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Florence  County 

Economic  and  Social 


J.  p.  McNeill,  jr. 

JOHN  A.  CHASE,  JR. 


University  of  South  Carolina 
June  1921 


Bulletin    University   of    South   Carolina — Issued    Monthly 
No.    103,   October,    1921.     Second    Class    Mail    Matter 


FLORENCE  COUNTY 

Economic  and  Social 


-By- 


J.    P.    McNeill,    jr.,    am 
JOHN  A.  CHASE  JR. 


A  Laboratory  Study  in  the  Department  of  Rural  Social  Science 
of  the  University  of   South   Carolina 


JUNE  1921 


a 
.-I 

< 


CONTENTS 


CM     Acknowledgments 3 

«f»     Historical  Background 5 

w  _ 

g    Natural  Resources 7 

Facts  About  the  Folks 14 

Schools 18 

d    Wealth  and  Taxation 26 

^    Farm  Conditions  and  Practices 33 

Q     Balance  Sheet  in  Food  and  Feed  Production 42 

Evidences  of  Progress 49 

■Z     Our  Problems  and  Their  Solution 57 


449627 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/florencecountyecOOmcne 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


0^HE  PUBLICATION  of  this  booklet  would  never  have 
/  Jl  been  possible  had  it  not  been  for  the  untiring  efforts 
^■^  and  cooperation  of  Dr.  Wilson  Gee,  Professor  of 
Rural  Social  Science  at  the  University  of  South  Carolina.  Dur- 
ing every  step  of  its  preparation  he  was  on  the  job  with  valuable 
suggestions,  and  here  and  there  through  the  booklet,  though 
unrecognisable  as  the  works  of  his  hand,  zvill  be  seen  fruits 
of  his  efforts  in  much  more  concrete  form  than  suggestions. 

The  work  of  J.  W.  Brunson  in  preparing  "The  Historical 
Background,"  T.  Benton  Young  on  "Co-operative  Marketing," 
B.  B.  Brunson  on  "Idle  Lands,"  J.  M.  Lynch  on  "Good  Roads," 
Allan  C.  Mimms  on  "Livestock,"  and  R.  B.  Currin  on  "The 
Pee  Dee  Bxperiment  Station,"  deserve  special  m^ention,  and 
we  wish  to  express  pur  sincere  appreciation  to  these  gentlemen 
for  their  valuable  assistance. 

We  also  zvish  to  acknozvlcdge  our  obligation  to  the  other 
public  spirited  men  and  women  of  the  county  ivho  furnished 
us  zvith  valuable  information  not  readily  obtainable. 

J.    P.    McNBiLL,   JR., 
JOHN  A.  CHASB,  JR. 

University  of  South  Carolina, 
June  4,  1921 


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I. 
HISTORICAL  BACKGROUND 


J.  W.  Brunson 


In  1853  and  1854  the  Wilmington  and  Manchester  Railroad  was 
built  and  the  present  city  of  Florence  had  its  beginning.  Corps  of 
construction  working  from  both  ends  of  the  line  met  just  at  the  termi- 
nus of  the  first  curve  of  the  line  going  west,  on  land  now  belonging 
to  the  estate  of  William  Revell.  Here  Samuel  Muldrow  kept  a  small 
eating  house  for  passengers  and  employees  of  the  railroad  company. 
This  point  was  connected  with  Cheraw,  Society  Hill,  Darlington,  and 
points  north  by  a  stage  line,  one  of  the  drivers  being  Mr.  Cutts,  sub- 
sequently a  passenger  conductor  on  the  railroad.  Mr.  E.  E.  Brunson 
and  Mr.  Wilden  were  among  the  first  conductors. 

Soon  afterwards  the  station  was  established  at  a  point  north  of  the 
track  and  a  little  east  of  Church  Street,  then  merely  a  settlement  road. 
At  that  time  the  road  connecting  with  the  Camden  Road  south  of  Middle 
Swamp  at  Muldrow's  Mill,  and  projected  as  the  Goose  Pond  Road, 
north  of  Florence,  had  not  been  established.  The  station  was  a  rough 
warehouse  with  a  platform,  at  one  end  an  apartment  having  been  cut 
off  for  a  ticket  office  and  United  States  Postoffice.  The  agent,  Mr. 
Campbell,  lived  in  a  smaH  house  on  the  south  side  of  the  railroad 
track  at  a  point  near  the  present  terminus  of  Ravanel  Street. 

The  next  improvement  was  an  eating  house  on  the  south  side  of 
the  track  and  east  of  the  settlement  road.  This  building  was  used 
also  for  religious  worship.  Mr.  Jacobi  was  among  the  first  merchants. 
In  1854  the  Northeastern  Railroad  Company  purchased  a  part  of  the 
Thomas  McCall  property  and  S.  S.  Solomons,  surveyor,  laid  off  into 
streets  and  lots  that  portion  of  the  city  bounded  on  the  east  by  the 
east  margin  of  Dargan  Street;  south  by  the  south  margin  of  Cheves 
Street;  west  by  the  west  margin  of  McQueen  Street,  and  north  by 
the  right-of-way  of  the  Wilmington  and  Manchester  Railroad  Company. 

Florence  then  began  to  grow  slowly  in  importance  at  a  railroad 
center  and  trading  point.  Among  those  conspicuously  active  in  the  in- 
cipient development  of  the  town  were  Jerome  P.  Chase,  Wm.  Norris, 
Samuel  O.  McCown,  James  McCown,  James  Pawley,  W.  A.  Brunson, 
and  the  railroad  companies.  But  the  greatest  service  rendered  was 
by  General  W.  W.  Harllee,  whose  indefatigable  perseverance  in  the  face 
of  obstacles,  to  many  insuperable,  secured  the  location  of  the  Wilming- 


6  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

ton  and  Manchester  Railroad  Company.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  fine 
education  and  of  a  high  order  of  intellect,  integrity  and  energy,  and 
in  his  political  views,  firm  as  the  everlasting  hills.  To  him  a  monument 
is  due  from  the  people  of  Florence.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  it  was 
for  his  daughter  that  the  city  and  county  of  Florence  were  named. 

In  1889-90  the  new  County  of  Florence  was  established,  composed 
of  that  portion  of  Darlington  County  lying  east  of  a  line  running  from 
Sanders'  Bridge  on  Lynch's  Creek  to  the  center  of  the  C.  &  D.  trestle 
over  High  Hill  Creek ;  thence  down  said  creek  to  Black  Creek ;  thence 
up  Black  Creek  to  Muses'  Bridge;  thence  a  straight  line  to  Back 
Swamp ;  thence  down  said  creek  to  Great  Pee  Dee  River ;  all  of  Marion 
County  lying  west  of  Pee  Dee  River ;  and  a  part  of  the  counties  of 
Clarendon  and  Williamsburg.  Among  the  citizens  of  antebellum  times 
in  the  Darlington  section  of  the  county,  are  the  names,  R.  R.  Cannon, 
W.  H.  Cannon,  Moses  McCall,  Thomas  McCall,  Captain  John  Mc- 
Sween,  Bacot,  Brockinton,  Ervin,  McClenaghan,  James,  Dargan, 
Brunson,  Green,  Gee,  Muldrow,  Burris,  Council,  Britt,  McCown,  and 
Cole.  South  of  Middle  Swamp  are  Hepburn,  Pettigrew,  Ward,  Brock- 
inton, Williamson,  Woods,  Kennedy,  Revell,  Timmons,  Burch,  Mc- 
Laughlin, Lawrence,  Langston,  Ham,  Welch,  Munn,  Morris,  Gamer, 
Hill,   Hewitt,   Mims,  and  Lockhart. 

The  Marion  section  contributed  greater  wealth  and  also  many  of  our 
best  citizens,  among  whom  are  the  names,  Evans,  Gregg,  Howard,  Mc- 
Intyre.  Jarrott,  Harllee,  Pearce,  Brown,  Gibson,  McPherson,  Claussen, 
Johnson.  Singletary,  Fladger,  Ross,  Myers,  Cusack,  Finklea,  Poston, 
McWhite,  Gasque  and  Fryer.  Many  of  our  best  citizens  were  also 
contributed  by  Williamsburg  and   Clarendon  counties. 

Florence  is  nearly  one  hundred  per  cent  American.  Our  people  are, 
with  comparatively  few  exceptions,  the  descendents  of  the  early  colo- 
nists of  the  State,  Scotch-Irish,  Huguenot  and  English,  with  a  fair 
scattering  of  pure  Scotch.  There  are  a  good  many  royal  grants,  and 
a  fair  number  of  our  people  are  now  living  on  land  granted  to  their 
ancestors  by  King  George.  James  Cole,  at  Cole's  Cross  Roads,  is  liv- 
ing on  land  granted  his  ancestor,  James  Cole,  in  1750,  and  there  has 
been   a   continuous    family   ownership   ever    since   then. 


NATURAL  RESOURCES  AND  INDUSTRIES 


J.  A.  CHASE,  JR. 


Geography 

Florence  County  is  located  in  the  east-central  portion  of  South  Caro- 
lina, entirely  within  the  coastal  plain.  Its  boundaries  are  as  follows : 
On  the  north,  Darlington  and  Marlboro  counties,  on  the  south,  Claren- 
don and  Williamsburg  counties;  on  the  cast,  Dillon  and  Marion  counties, 
from  which  it  is  separated  by  the  Pee  Dee  River;  on  the  west,  Sumter, 
Lee  and   Darlington   counties. 

In  size,  Florence  County  ranks  twenty-seventh  among  the  counties 
in  South  Carolina;  with  an  area  of  607  square  miles,  or  388,480  acres. 

The  topography  of  the  county  is  generally  flat,  but  there  are  some 
slight  variations  in  the  surface,  consisting  principally  of  elevations  in  the 
undulating  uplands  and  the  gently  rolling  surfaces  along  drainage 
courses.  The  stream  bottoms  are  all  practically  level,  except  for  slight 
interruptions  of  drainage- way  depressions,  and  abandoned  stream  chan- 
nels. Hence,  the  county  is  well  suited  for  cultivation  and  too  nearly 
level  to  be  subject  to  serious  erosion. 

Climate 

The  climate  of  Florence  County  is  mild  and  pleasant,  and  there  is  no 
time  that  the  farmer  cannot  occupy  himself  profitably.  The  extremes 
of  temperature  seldom  occur.  The  average  date  of  the  last  killing 
frost  in  the  spring  is  March  31  and  of  the  first  in  the  fall,  November  7. 
However,  the  last  record  of  killing  frost  in  the  spring  is  April  24  and  the 
earliest   in  the   fall,   October   12. 

Following  is  a  table  of  the  normal  monthly,  seasonal,  and  annual  tem- 
perature and  precipitation  at   Florence. 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 


TABLE   I. 

Normal  Monthly,  Seasonal  and  Annual  Temperature  and  Precipita- 
tion at  Florence 


Temperature 


Precipitation 


Absolute  Absolute  g  >^  g''^ 

Mean     Max'm     Min'm     Mean     '^  «  *^  ^ 

^  H^ 

Fahr.    Fahr.    Fahr.        inches      inches      inches 

1.36 
3.80 
6.52 

11.48 

3.89 
6.12 
4.46 

14.47 

3.43 
6.79 
6.33 

16.55 

6.77 
4.44 
1.26 

12.47 
YEAR 62.8        107        —1        46.55        37.47        54.97 


December  .    .    . 
January  .... 
February    .    .    . 

.    .    .  44.0 
.   .    .  43.3 
.    .    .   45.1 

79 
89 

86 

16 
6 

—1 

3.11 
2.67 

4.45 

4.59 
1.30 

5.49 

1.36 
3.80 
6.52 

WINTER   .    . 

.    .   44.1 

10.23 

11.38 

11.48 

March   .... 

April 

May 

.    .    .   55.3 

.    .    61.1 

.    .    .  72.6 

98 

94 

100 

20 
26 
38 

3.25 
3.10 
3.72 

1.98 
2.42 
2.89 

3.89 
6.12 
4.46 

SPRING  .  .  .  . 

.   .  .  63.0 

10.07 

7.29 

14.47 

June 

July    ..... 

.    .   78.6 
.    .    .   81.4 

103 
107 
100 

43 
59 
54 

5.31 
5.72 
5.73 

2.82 
2.43 
4.22 

3.43 
6.79 

August  .... 

.    .    .  80.3 

6.33 

SUMMER  .  .   . 

.   .   .  80.1 

16.76 

9.47 

16.55 

Sept 

Oct 

Nov 

.    .    .  74.6 
.    .    .  63.0 
.   .   .  54.3 

99 
90 
90 

30 

30 
17 

4.21 
2.87 
2.41 

1.16 

3.79 
4.38 

6.77 
4.44 
1.26 

FALL 

.   .   .  64.0 

9.49 

9.33 

12.47 

Soils 


The  predominant  type  of  soil  in  Florence  County  is  sand,  which  in- 
cludes coarse  sands,  fine  sandy  loams,  and  very. fine  sandy  loams.  There 
are  scattered,  however,  throughout  the  county,  bodies  of  loam,  silt  loam, 
and  clay,  making  an  important  total  area ;  but  very  small  as  compared 
with  the  total  extent  of  the  sandy  types.  This  difference  in  the  character 
of  the  soils  may  possibly  be  attributed  to  drainage. 

In  Florence  County  there  are  thirty-one  distinct  soil  types  mapped, 
and  these  types  are  separated  mainly  on  the  basis  of  the  texture.     They 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  9 

are  grouped  into  ten  series  on  the  basis  of  similarity  of  origin,  color,  or 
range  of  color,  of  the  soil  and  sub-soil  and  general  topographic  condi- 
tions. The  area  and  names  of  the  ten  series  are  as  follows :  Norfolk, 
33.5  per  cent.,  Coxville,  25  per  cent.,  Portsmouth,  10.3  per  cent.,  Kalmia, 
5.7  per  cent.,  Okenee,  3.2  per  cent.,  Ruston,  2.2  per  cent.,  Johnston,  1 
per  cent.,  Myatt,  0.9  per  cent.,  Cahaba,  0.6  per  cent.,  Orangeburg,  0.5 
per  cent.  The  first  two  series  comprise  over  one-half  the  area  of  the 
county.     Hence,  they  are  worthy  of  a  detailed  description. 

The  surface  soils  of  the  Norfolk  series  are  characterized  by  the 
light-gray  to  grayish-yellow  color,  and  by  the  yellow  color  and  friable 
structure  of  the  sand  or  sandy-clay  subsoils.  Throughout  the  Coastal 
Plain  they  occupy  nearly  level  to  rolling  uplands  and  have  been  derived 
from  unconsolidated  deposits  of  sands  and  clays.  There  are  seven  types 
of  the  Norfolk  series  in  Florence  County,  as  follows :  the  coarse  sandy 
loam,  very  fine  sandy  loam,  sandy  loam,  fine  sandy  loam,  sand,  fine 
sand,  and  coarse  sand.  These  are  excellent  agricultural  soils,  being  well 
suited  to  cotton,  corn,  oats,  tobacco,  peanuts,  sweet  and  Irish  putatoes, 
forage  crops,  and  any  variety  of  vegetables,  but  generally,  applications 
of  commercial  fertilizers  are  made  with  all  the  crops. 

The  surface  soils  of  the  Coxville  series  are  dark-gray  to  nearly  black 
in  color.  The  subsoils  range  from  a  moderately  mellow,  friable  clay 
in  the  upper  portion  to  yellowish,  rather  plastic,  compact  clay  molded 
with  drab  and  bright  red  in  the  lower  portion.  The  topography  is  pre- 
vailingly flat,  with  frequent  sparsely  settled  timbered  areas.  In  these 
shallow  depressions  the  drainage  is  exceedingly  poor  and  most  farmers 
find  it  necessary  to  dig  ditches,  apply  liberal  additions  of  vegetable  mat- 
ter and  lime,  in  order  to  prevent  the  tendency  to  compact.  The  princi- 
pal products  of  the  Coxville  series  are  tomatoes,  peas,  beans,  potatoes, 
cabbage,  strawberries,  corn  and  oats,  and  a  small  amount  of  tobacco  and 
cotton,  all  of  which  requires  artificial  drainage  and  some  fertilizing 
before  they  can  be  cultivated. 

The  soils  which  are  prevalent  around  Florence  are  the  Coxville,  Nor- 
folk and  Rustin  series  and  those  around  Lake  City  are  the  Norfolk, 
Portsmouth,  Coxville  and  Kalmia  series.  As  a  further  proof  of  this 
fact,  corn,  cotton,  oats,  tobacco  and  potatoes  are  grown  around  Flor- 
ence, which  the  three  series  are  especially  adapted  to  raising.  Around 
Lake  City,  we  find  tobacco  the  chief  product,  this  town  being  the  largest 
tobacco  market  in  the  county,  in  addition  to  cotton,  corn,  oats,  velvet 
beans,  cowpeas,  watermelons  and  cucumbers,  all  of  which  occupy  place 
in  the  crop  possibility  of  the  four  series  named  around  this  area. 

Minerals. 

The  mineral  resources  of  Florence  County  are  barely  worth  mention- 
ing, marl  and  Fuller's  Earth  being  the  only  minerals.     Neither  of  these 


10  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

are  found  to  any  appreciable  extent,  but  if  they  are  developed  they  may 
prove  a  small  asset  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  county. 

Timber 

According  to  the  1910  census,  there  are  162,941  acres  of  woodland  in 
Florence  County.  This  is  42  per  cent,  of  the  total  area  of  the  county, 
Florence  ranking  fifth  in  this  particular.  Loblolly  pine  seems  to  pre- 
dominate in  the  forests,  v/ith  small  amounts  of  long  leaf,  short  leaf,  oak, 
gum,   poplar  and  cypress. 

Statistics  are  not  available  as  to  the  number  of  feet  of  merchantable 
timber  specific  for  the  county.  The  1920  report  of  the  State  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture  gives  Florence  County  $669,164  as  the  value  of 
the  lumber  and  timber  products  for  that  year.  The  machine  shops  and 
foundries  are  the  only  industry  in  Florence  County  which  outranks 
the  lumber  business  in  value  of  the  annual  product  in  1920. 

It  is  interesting-  to  n'tc  the  timber  situation  in  the  state  as  a  whole. 
Last  year  the  United  States  Forest  Service  recorded  13,889,000,000  feet 
as  the  stand  of  merchantable  pine  timber  in  South  Carolina.  The  figure 
given  for  1908  is  approximately  45,000,000,000.  The  decrease  is  readily 
seen  to  be  marked.  The  annual  growth  in  the  state  is  estimated  to  be 
250,000,000  feet.  Over  the  country  as  a  whole,  our  consumption  of 
timber  is  four  times  as  great  as  our  annual  growth.  At  this  rate,  and  it 
represents  a  conservative  estimate,  we  are  sustaininq-  in  this  state  a  defi- 
cit of  three-quarters  of  a  billion  feet  annually.  Such  forest  depletion 
will  not  allow  many  years  until  we  shall  have  "killed  the  goose  that  laid 
the  golden  egg."  It  is  time  we  are  taking  intelligent  steps  toward  the 
proper  utilization  or   conservation  of   our   forest   resources. 

Industries. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  Florence  County  is  predominantly  agricul- 
tural, of  late  years  manufacturing  is  rising  into  large  proportions.  In 
a  brief  synopsis  like  this  it  would  be  impossible  to  give  a  detailed  account 
of  the  organization,  growth  and  present  importance  of  each  of  our  in- 
dustries, and  in  fact  one  short  paragraph  devoted  to  each  would  make 
a  story  entirely  too  long  to  be  included  in  this  bulletin.  However,  the 
reader  will  find  at  the  end  of  this  chapter,  in  a  tabulated  and  consoli- 
dated form,  the  most  important  facts  about  our  industries. 

For  the  development  of  industries  there  are  four  things  absolutely 
necessary.  They  are  sufficient  capital,  available  raw  products,  efficient 
workers  and  ample  transportation  facilities.  Fortunately,  Florence  is 
blessed  with  all  of  these. 

It  is  practically  impossible  to  secure  from  the  state  reports  the  exact 
capital  invested  in  manufacturing  in  a  thriving  town  like  Florence.  It 
takes  time  for  the  reports  to  be  sent  by  the  different  manufacturing  con- 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  11 

cerns  to  the  state  department  at  Columbia,  and  there  to  be  tabulated 
and  printed.  During  this  time  other  capital  is  being  added  to  the  old 
plants  and  new  plants  are  started.  Consequently,  we  can  get  it  only  ap- 
proximately correct. 

According  to  the  state  report  for  1920  we  had  a  total  capital  stock  of 
$1,706,839.  Of  course  there  was  much  more  than  this  invested 
in  our  industries  and  carried  under  such  heads  as  "surplus"  and  "undi- 
vided profits  "  Florence  has  sufficient  capital  invested  in  her  industries 
to  insure  steady  work  for  several  hundred  wage  earners  and  large  re- 
turns to  capital. 

As  shown  in  a  succeeding  chapter,  Florence  County  is  well  located 
in  the  midst  of  a  tobacco  and  cotton  growing  area,  ranking  first  among 
the  counties  of  the  state  in  the  former  particular.  Great  quantities  of 
these  products  are  brought  in  annually  by  the  farmers  and  sold  on  the 
local  n.arket,  which  would  save  our  manufacturers  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation. 

It  is  needless  to  say  how  necessary  efficient  workers  are  in  the  advance- 
ment of  an  industry,  and  this  is  one  of  the  most  important  things  which 
help  to  produce  large  returns  in  this  work.  The  other  important  things 
are  the  right  kind  of  machinery  and  good  management.  When  we  have 
these  there  is   no  need  to  worry. 

There  are  few  towns  in  South  Carolina  with  greater  transportation 
facilities  than  Florence.  Located  on  the  main  line  of  the  Atlantic  Coast 
Line  Railroad  and  a  side  line  of  the  Seaboard  Railroad,  there  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  complain.  With  available  freight  facilities,  this 
enables  the  industries  to  import  and  export  easily  from  all  directions. 
These  advantages  are  indispensable  in  a  growing  industrial  center. 

But  strange  to  say,  with  all  these  opportunities  we  find  that  the  re- 
ceipts from  industries  are  two  and  one-half  times  less  than  those  of 
agriculture. 

What  do  we  need?  We  need  for  some  of  our  far-seeing  and  wide- 
awake citizens  to  come  to  a  realization  of  this  fact  and  thereby  inocu- 
late an  impetus  into  industrial  activities.  During  the  last  few  years 
there  has  been  a  tremendous  growth  in  all  of  our  industrial  plants.  But 
we  have  all  the  requirements  for  still  more  industries.  Besides  hav- 
ing the  things  necessary  for  the  development  of  industries,  we  have  a 
good  climate  and  assured  markets.  Obviously,  we  can  see  that  the  only 
thing  lacking  is  initiative. 

Atlantic    Coast    Line    Shops. 

The  estimated  value  of  the  shop  property  at  Florence  at  the  present 
time   is   as    follows,    based    on   the   only    information    possible : 


12 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 


Shop  Buildings $96,600.00 

Fuel   Stations 22,000.00 

Shop  Machinery 239,035.74 

Real   Estate 175,000.00 

The  work  of  the  men  consists  principally  in  making  repairs  to  loco- 
motives and  cars  used  in  transportation  service.  A  percentage  of  the  as- 
signed locomotives  are  given  general  classified  repairs,  while  running 
repairs,  such  as  can  be  made  between  the  arrival  and  departure,  are  made 
on  all  engines  running  into  Florence,  which  includes  four  districts — Wil- 
mington, Fayetteville,  Columbia  and  Charleston.  All  freight  equip- 
ment damaged  or  becoming  bad  order  in  this  vicinity  is  brought  into 
Florence   for  repairs  at  this  point. 

Prior  to  reduction  of  forces,  which  is  probably  only  temporary,  the 
payrolls  for  Florence  shops  proper  amounted  to  approximately  $115,- 
000  per  month.  This  payroll  only  covers  the  amount  paid  to  the  shop 
forces  and  does  not  take  into  consideration  the  payroll  from  transpor- 
tation, yard  or  agency  forces,  which  if  added,  would  probably  double 
the  amount  mentioned. 

From  this  we  can  see  what  a  tremendous  asset  the  Florence  shops 
are,  not  only  to   Florence  township,  but  the  surrounding  country. 

TABLE   II. 

ClassiBed    Industries   in    Florence    County    Based    on    1920    Report    of 
the   State  Commission   of   Agriculture 


en 

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1 

3 

bD 

CU 

a 

rt 

t«  o. 

3 

o 

o 

-o 

M-l 

o  <u 

a 

IV 

p 

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^Oh 

H 

5 

3 

U 

> 

W 

^ 

^ 

Bakery   Products    .    .    .    .$  100,000 

Boxes,   Baskets,  etc.    .    .    .  18,000 

Confectionary 74,790 

Electricity .  117,449 

Fertilizer 25,000 

Foundries  and  Mch.   Shops  328,000 

Flour  and  Grist 18,275 

Gas    . 102.161 

Ice 35,000 


400,000 

$  15,600 

17 

310 

145,599 

27,545 

30 

240 

217,981 

18,213 

16 

186 

169,043 

36,296 

31 

365 

109,457 

4,909 

16 

104 

,533,000 

1,017,057 

802 

322 

24,980 

3,070 

7 

101 

51,201 

13,30a, 

11 

365 

15,000 

4,860 

6 

180 

Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 


13 


<n 

"O 

"3 

in 
be 

<LI 

rt 

OS 

„  I' 

3 

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w 

2.  ^ 

o 

.--- 

•o 

o  bfi 

Q^ 

'a 
a 

o 

^> 

E 

O 

> 

W 

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^ 

Lumber  and  Timber  . 
Minerals  and  Soda  .  . 
Monuments  and  Stones 
Printing   and   Publishing 

GRAND  TOTAL  .  .  .$1,706,839    $4,578,750    $3,197,517    1235    3115 


.  669,164 

669,164 

293 

140 

.  186,000 

186,125 

37,867 

27 

292 

.      3,000 

4,200 

1,800 

1 

200 

.    .30,000 

53,000 

21,484 

24 

310 

III. 
FACTS  ABOUT  THE  FOLKS 


J.  A.  CHASE,  JR. 


This  chapter  is  an  attempt  to  weigh  the  most  important  facts  available 
concerning  the  folks  themselves,  constituting  the  population  of  Florence 
County.  The  data  must  still  be  largely  derived  from  the  Thirteenth  Cen- 
sus of  1910;  for  although  a  new  census  was  taken  last  year,  the  com- 
plete results  of  this  will  not  be  published  for  at  least  a  year  or  more. 
All  of  the  advanced  reports  made  by  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  are  at 
our  disposal  and  the  figures  for  1920  indicated  in  them  are  used  when- 
ever possible. 

A  study  of  the  census  reports  shows  that  current  tendencies  are  rarely 
developed  within  a  period  of  ten  years.  Consequently,  the  data  treated 
reflect  conditions  as  they  are  in   1921. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  is  directed  to  the  table  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter,  where  the  statistics  on  which  this  discussion  is  based  are  to 
be  found  in  compact  form  for  ready  reference. 

Population 

We  will  take  first  into  consideration  the  increase  of  the  total  popula- 
tion for  the  last  two  decades.  In  1920  Florence  County  had  a  population 
of  50,406  people;  in  1910,  35,671;  in  1900,  28,474  people.  The  figures 
of  the  Thirteenth  Census  indicate  an  increase  of  25  per  cent,  from  1900 
to  1910;  the  figures  of  the  Fourteenth  Census  indicate  an  increase  of  41 
per  cent,  from  1910  to  1920.  In  short,  the  county  shows  an  increase  of 
11  per  cent,  in  population  between   1900  and   1920. 

In  1910  43  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  was  white  and  57  per  cent, 
was  black.  A  comparison  of  the  relative  increase  of  whites  and  negroes 
will  be  next  treated.  In  1890,  there  were  10.471  whites;  in  1900,  11,819 
whites;  and  in  1910,  15,329  whites — or  a  percentage  increase  of  12.7  per 
cent,  between  1890  and  1900,  and  29.7  per  cent,  between  1900  and  1910. 
In  1890,  there  were  14,554  negroes;  in  1900,  16,654  negroes;  and  in  1910, 
20,340  negroes — or  an  increase  of  14.4  per  cent  between  1890  and  1900, 
and  22.1    per    cent,    between    1900   and    1910. 

Florence  County  also  shows  interesting  figures  on  the  rural  popu- 
lation. There  was  an  increase  of  9.3  per  cent,  between  1910  and  1920 
for  the  rural  population.  Also,  the  population  per  square  mile  was 
58.8  in  1910,  and  72.1  in  1920,  or  an  increase  of   13.3  per  cent.     How- 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  15 

ever,  80.2  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  was  rural  in  1910,  and  in 
1920,  78.2  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  was  rural — a  decrease  of  2 
per  cent.  The  increase  in  each  of  these  is  37.8  per  cent  for  the  rural 
between  1910  and  1920,  and  55.4  per  cent,  for  the  urban  population 
and  22.1  per  cent,  between  1900  and  1910. 

These  latter  figures  are  important  for  the  tendency  toward  urbani- 
zation seems  to  have  begun  to  get  a  grip  on  the  country.  While  we 
would  not  say  anything  to  disparage  the  growth  of  our  towns,  yet  we 
would  not  care  to  see  them  make  their  progress  at  the  expense  of  the  ru- 
ral sections  upon  which  the  material  and  moral  welfare  of  our  county, 
state  and  nation  largely  depend. 

Illiteracy 

One  of  the  most  serious  problems  confronting  our  State  is  that  of  il- 
literacy. According  to  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  publi- 
cations, which  are  the  most  authoritative  on  this  subject,  25.7  per  cent, 
of  the  population  of  South  Carolina  are  illiterates,  ranking  only  one 
state,  Louisiana,  with  29  per  cent.  The  same  reference  indicates  that  in 
the  number  of  illiterates  per  thousand  of  the  total  white  population, 
ten  years  of  age  and  over  in  1910.  South  Carolina  ranked  forty-fifth, 
with  an  average  of  103. 

Essentially,  the  same  condition  exists  in  Florence  County.  Eleven  of 
every  hundred  of  our  native  white  voters  cannot  read  their  ballots 
or  write  their  names,  Florence  ranking  eighteenth  among  the  counties 
in  the  State  in  this  particular.  Our  illiterates  ten  years  old  and  over 
in  1910,  numbered  1,020  whites  and  5,007  negroes;  or  to  state  it  in  per- 
centage, 9.3  per  cent  white  illiterates  and  35.9  negro  illiterates.  Nearly 
six  hundred  white  children  six  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  or  18.4  per 
cent,  of  this  age  group,  were  not  in  school.  Yet  in  the  negro  school  at- 
tendance we  have  a  still  worse  condition  existing.  Of  every  hundred 
school  children  there  are  39.8  out  of  school.  The  county  must  play  her 
part  to  wipe  out  this  bad  blot,  and  this  end  cannot  be  accomplished  unless 
the  compulsory  school  law  is  enforced  and  the  parents  of  the  county 
cooperate  cheerfully  in  having  their  children  attend  school  regularly. 

Birth    Rate    Exceeds    Death    Rate. 

The  following  figures  show  that  the  health  conditions  in  the  county 
are  not  what  they  should  be.  The  death  rate  is  not  decreasing,  but  slowly 
increasing,  which  situation  does  not  look  favorable.  In  1919,  Florence 
ranked  fortieth  in  the  death  rate  per  1,000  inhabitants,  19.9  being  the 
number.  In  1916,  the  death  rate  was  18.2  per  1,000  inhabitants,  showing 
an  increase  of  1.7  in  the  three  years. 

This  situation  is  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  negroes  in  Florence 
greatly  outnumber  the  whites;  and  it  is  an  understood  fact  that  the  negro 
is  more  susceptible  to  disease.     Yet  we  must  realize  that  this  condition 


16  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

is  not  due  to  this  one  fact.  There  is  much  illness  that  could  be  pre- 
vented by  tlie  greater  care  of  the  individual,  and  more  diligent  efforts 
on  the  part  of  the  health  authorities.  This  condition  is  caused  by  the 
combined  forces  of  ignorance  and  lack  of  cooperation  between  the  in- 
dividuals and  health  authorities,  city  and  state. 

Now  is  the  accepted  time  and  opportunity  for  the  public  health  offi- 
cer, working  in  cooperation  with  the  State  Board  of  Health,  to  render 
the  fullest  public  service.  It  is  also  a  fact  that  a  very  large  percentage 
of  the  deaths  which  occur  are  those  of  babies  under  the  age  of  one 
year.  This  is  due  to  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  mother,  and  to  the 
unsanitary  and  improper  care  of  the  babies. 

What  is  needed?  A  corps  of  public  nurses  stationed  throughout  the 
county  to  instruct  the  old  as  well  as  the  young,  in  all  matters  pertaining 
to  good  health  and  the  ways  of  living,  and  to  aid  and  advise  them  in 
every  way  possible. 

Henceforth  we  can  see  that  the  solution  of  this  high  death-rate  prob- 
lem is  up  to  the  people  of  the  county;  and  unless  there  is  cooperation 
between  the  health  authorities  and  the  individuals  it  will  continue  to 
rise.  It  is  left  to  the  people  of  the  county  which  course  they  will  pur- 
sue. 

Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  very  interesting  fact  to  note  that  Flor- 
ence County  ranked  second  in  the  births  per  1,000  inhabitants  for  1919. 
In  that  year  there  were  1,569  births,  with  an  average  of  38.3  births  per 
1,000  inhabitants.  Another  very  interesting  fact  to  note  is  that  our  birth 
rate  exceeds  our  death  rate  by  14.9  per  1,000  inhabitants. 

Church  Membership. 

With  59.94  per  cent  of  our  population  members  of  some  church, 
Florence  stood  seventh  in  church  membership.  This  is  afact  we  sh'aild 
treat  with  the  greatest  concern.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  do  make  a 
good  stand,  we  are  not  proud  of  the  fact  that  40.6  per  cent,  of  our  peo- 
ple belong  to  no  church  whatever.  When  we  consider  the  population 
ten  years  of  age  or  over,  we  had  85  per  cent  of  this  classification  church 
members.  Only  five  counties  making  a  better  showing  in  this  regard. 
.\11  told,  there  were  only  21,383  of  our  people  members  of  the  church  in 
1916.  Of  these  there  are  9,929  Baptists,  5,678  of  whom  are  negrees; 
8,191  Methodists,  1909  of  whom  are  negroes;  1,272  Presbyterians;  536 
Episcopalians;  200  Roman  Catholics;  85  Lutherans;  and  1,170  of  other 
bodies 

An  Agricultural  People. 

We  need  no  figures  to  prove  that  the  people  of  Florence  County  are 
an  agricultural  folk,  for  we  can  see  from  statistics  that  our  population 
is  made  up  mainly  of  farmers.  According  to  the  figures  of  the  Four- 
teenth Census   (1920),  of  a  total  population  of  50,406.  39.438  were  clas- 


FujRKXcK  County:  Economic  and  Social  17 

sifted  as  rural.  In  other  words,  much  more  than  one-half  of  the  pop- 
ulation are  farmers. 

As  a  further  proof,  in  1920  there  were  1361  inhabitants  employed  in 
mdustrial  pursuits  against  39,438  employed  in  agriculture. 

In  1920,  the  total  value  of  the  eleven  leading  crops  of  Florence  Coun- 
ty was  $8,063,000,  with  an  industrial  output  of  only  $3,196,896  dollars; 
approximately  two  and  one-half  times  greater  receipts  from  crops  alone, 
not  including  livestock  products,  than  from  industries. 

Hence,  we  are  convinced  that  our  people  are  a  farming  folk,  and  that 
the  problems  which  confront  us,  ought  to  be  viewed  in  large  measure 
from  the  farmer's  point  of  view,  for  this  will  affect  the  greatest  number 
of  people. 

Facts  About  the   Folks. 

27th  in  size  in   South   Carolina,  acres 388,480 

8th  in  population.  1920 50,406 

9th  in  density  of  rural  population  per  square  mile   . .         56.4 

10th  in  population  per  square  mile 72.1 

18th  in  negro  decrease  in   ratio   of   the   total    pop- 
ulation, 1900-1910,  per  cent 1.5 

(The  decrease  was   58.5  per  cent.    (1900)    to  57  per  cent. 
(1910);   in  seven  counties  the  negroes  were  an  increasing 
ratio  of  the  total  population;  the  negroes  were  an  increas- 
ratio   in   30   counties   of   the    State.) 
6th  in  percentage  that  church  members  are  of  total  pop- 
ulation,   10   years   old  and   over 85 

7th  in  church  membership,  per  cent,  of  total  population 

1916 59.94 

(Non-church   members   in   the   total    population,    1916,    was 
14,288.) 
22nd  in  native  white  illiterates  10  years  old  and  over,  per 

cent.  1910 9.3 

(Native  white  illiterates  1,018;  State  average  10.3  per  cent.; 
U.  S.  average  3  per  cent.) 

26th  in  native  white  illiterate  voters,  per  cent 11.2 

(432  in  number;  State  average  10.8  per  cent.;  U.  S.  average 
4.2  per  cent.) 

3rd  in  death  rate  per  1,000  population,  1919 19.9 

(Average  for  United  States    (1915)    was  13.5.) 

2nd  in  birth   rate  per   1,000  population,    1919 38.3 

27th  in  paupers   in  almshouses,    rate  per    100,000  pop- 
ulation  1910 35 

(Total  number  in  county  11.) 
43rd  in  total  number  of  homicides  per  total  population,   1920  30 
(Total  number  in  county  15;  State  average  15.2.) 


IV. 

SCHOOLS 


J.  p.  McNeill,  jr. 


Florence  County,  with  her  50,406  inhabitants  in  1920  had  a  total  tax- 
able wealth  of  $31,647,912,  or  a  per  capita  wealth  of  $627.  There  are 
only  14  counties  in  the  State  which  make  a  better  showing.  During  1919 
we  spent  $1,472,217.75  in  operating  our  automobiles,  or  an  average  ex- 
penditure of  $29.50  for  every  person  in  the  county,  regardless  of  wheth- 
er he  owned  a  car  or  not.  During  the  same  period  each  of  us  spent 
only  $3.10  for  the  education  of  our  children.  In  1919  we  had  invested  in 
automobiles  $2,667,500;  in  school  property,  $461,138. 

Rank  of   Schools   in   State  and   Nation. 

There  are  few,  if  any,  governmental  activities  for  which  so  many 
significant  facts  have  been  gathered,  by  uniform  methods,  over  so  long 
a  period  of  time  as  has  been  done  in  the  matter  of  education.  A  com- 
prehensive method  of  indicating  school  conditions  and  tendencies  has 
been  worked  out  by  the  Department  of  Education  of  the  Russell  Sage 
Foundation  by  means  of  the  index  number,  which  is  a  well  established 
statistical  evidence  commonly  used  for  measuring  changes  in  wholesale 
and  retail  prices  and  rates  of  wages  over  long  periods  of  time,  and 
which  number  lends  itself  readily  in  denoting  changes,  conditions  and 
cost  of  education  over  a  period  of  years. 

The  ten  sets  of  educational  data  that  have  been  considered  as  set  out 
in  the  table  below  are  unusually  adapted  for  inclusion  in  an  index  num- 
ber. Increases  in  them  reflect  improved  educational  conditions  and  de- 
creases reflect  worse  conditions.  Like  the  stock  prices  they  can  all  be 
measured  in  terras  of  a  theoretical  par  value  of  100,  and  because  of  this 
they  can  be  combined  in  an  index  number  that  is  a  direct  average  in- 
stead  of   a    relative    percentage. 


Florenck  County:  Economic  and  Social 


19 


TABLE  III 
Index    Figures    for    Florence    County    Schools    1909    and    1919 


'O 

•T3 

<u 

O 

w. 

o 

O 

o 
U 

TS 

•O 

oa 

oa 

<v 

u 

(U 

o 

<u 

Xi 

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^ 

j: 

j: 

'^ 

J^ 

U 

^ 

1 

ON 

0\ 

On 

0\ 

On 

1 

On 

o 

O 

0\ 

OS 

ON 

ON 

On 

On 

^ 

'"' 

'"^ 

1. 

Per   cent,    of    school    population   at- 
tending school  daily 

66.6 

50.6 

88. 

58.8 

64.3 

70.3 

2. 

Average  days  attendance,  each  child 
of  school  age   

36.64 

19. 

51.75 

20.4 

30.2 

33.2 

3. 

Average   number  days   schools   kept 
open 

55. 

37.5 

58.5 

36. 

51.5 

50.7 

4. 

Per   cent,   that   high   school   attend- 
ance was  of  total  attendance    . .    . . 

7.2 

9.6 

14.4 

21.9 

8.37 

16.5 

5. 

Per  cent,  that  boys  were  of  girls  in 
high   schools 

*73.41 

*73.41 

*58.59 

*58.59 

*73.41 

♦58.59 

6. 

Average    expenditure    per    child    in 
average  attendance 

13.42 

2.16 

32.05 

4.95 

7.77 

18.68 

7.     Average    expenditure    per    child    of 
school    age    

8.95 

1.10 

28.38        2.92 

4.47 

13.59 

3.     Average  expenditure  per  teacher  em- 
ployed           

17.18 

4.90 

57.08        7.82 

12.80 

24.41 

?.     Expenditure  per  pupil   for  purposes 
other    than   teachers'    salaries    . .    . . 

5.26 

.55 

18.70          .66 

2.56 

12.80 

3.     Expenditure    per    teacher    employed 
for  salaries 

27.64 

8.54 

40.85       12.81 

20.84 

32.08 

LORENCE  COUNTY  INDEX  .... 

31.13 

20.73 

44.83      22.48 

27.62 

33.08 

TATE  INDEX 

24.87 

29.39 

*)     State  Figures. 

Soutli  Carolina  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  list  of  states  in  the  matter  of 
education  with  an  index  number  of  29.39.     Montana  leads  with  75.79.  In 
1910  there  were  276,980  illiterates  in  the  State,  or  25.7  per  cent;  50,245 
of  these  being  whites.  Negro  majority  can  not  be  given  as  the  sole  cause 
of   South  Carolina's  position  in  this  regard,  though  this   fact  does  ma- 

20 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 


terially  influence  it.  We  are  backward  in  white  education  as  well.  To 
think  that  we  can  people  a  city  almost  as  large  as  Charleston,  our  largest 
city,  with  white  people  over  ten  years  of  age  and  not  a  single  one  able 
to  write  his  name ! 


CHART  NUMBER  1 

A  graphic  representation  of  the  condition 
of  Florence  County  Schools . 


Florence  County's  schools  have  an  index  number  of  33.08  and  thereby 
outstrip  the  general  average  of  the  State.  Were  the  average  for  the 
State  equal  to  that  of  Florence  County.  South  Carolina  would  rank  47th 
instead  of  52nd  in  the  list  of  States,  while  a  State  average  of  44.83  or 
the  average  of  Florence  County's  white  schools,  would  bring  South  Caro- 
lina to  the  rank  of  35th  instead  of  52nd  in  the  list  of  States. 

Consolidated  Schools 


Better  schools  are  not  only  a  question  of  money,  but  also  one  of  the 
wise  expenditure  cf  that  money,  and  as  time  goes  on  close  study  reveals 
different  methods  and  policies  as  to  obtaining  the  greatest  efficiency  from 
the  given  amount  of  money  and  effort.  In  the  beginning,  with  our  scat- 
tered population  and  poor  means  of  transportation,  the  idea  of  bring- 
ing the  school  to  the  pupil  prevailed,  and  the  consequence  was  a  great 
number  of  one  or  two  teacher  schools.  In  spite  of  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  passing  out  of  the  necessity  of  the  one  teacher  school  and  the 
appreciation  of  the  innumerable  advantages  of  the  consolidated  school 
we  have  never  been  able  so  far  to  rid  ourselves  of  them,  for  right  now  in 
South  Carolina  X5  per  cent,  of  our  schools  have  only  one  teacher.    Fortu- 


Florenc?:  County:  Economic  and  Sociaf,  21 

natcly  for  Florence  County  our  capable  and  wide  awake  Superintendent 
of  Education,  A.  H.  Gasque,  realized  the  advantages  of  consolidation,  and 
has  been  gradually  consolidating  our  one  and  two  teacher  schools  until 
now  only  .^3.8  per  cent,  are  one  teacher  a i  fairs,  a  wonderful  improve- 
ment over  the  average  of  the  v'^tate. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  what  arc  benefits  of  consolidation? 
From  a  financial  standpoint,  the  saving  brought  about  by  discontinuing! 
several  one  teacher  schools  and  creating  a  large  school  with  a  competent 
corps  of  teachers  to  accommodate  the  pupils  formerly  attending,  the  one 
teacher  schools  can  be  compared  with  the  saving  obtained  by  buying  a 
commodity  from  the  wholesaler  rather  than  from  several  small  retail- 
ers. But  consolidation  has  this  further  advantage,  it  yields  increased 
quality  as  well.  And  this  result  is  a  logical  one,  as  a  consideration  of 
the  following  well  established  and  well  recognized  benefits  of  consoli- 
dation will  show :  It  increases  the  attendance ;  makes  the  attendance 
more  regular;  increases  the  enrollment;  keeps  the  older  pupils  in  school 
longer ;  provides  high  school  privileges  at  one-third  the  cost ;  makes  pos- 
sible the  securing  of  better  trained  teachers;  results  in  higher  salaries 
for  better  trained  teachers ;  makes  possible  more  and  a  better  grade 
work ;  improves  industrial  conditions  in  the  country ;  enriches  civic-so- 
cial life  activities;  conserves  more  largely  the  health  and  morals  of  the 
children;  increases  the  number  of  eighth  grade  completions;  provides 
adequate  supervision ;  reduces  truancy  and  tardiness ;  develops  better 
school  spirit;  gives  more  time  for  recitations;  increases  the  value  of  real 
estate;  produces  greater  pride  and  interest  in  country  life;  prevents  the 
drift  to  the  larger  towns  and  cities;  brings  more  and  better  equipped 
buildings;  eliminates  the  small,  weak  school;  creates  a  school  of  greater 
worth,  dignity  and  usefulness ;  makes  possible  a  more  economical  school ; 
provides  equal  educational  opportunities ;  gives  much  greater  and  better 
results  in  every  way. 

As  has  been  said  above,  Florence  County  has  been  very  forward  in 
consolidating  its  schools,  having  consolidated  nine  schools  since  1914, 
which  allowed  the  discontinuance  of  seven — the  result  being  two  large, 
well  e(iuipped,  efficiently  conducted  schools  in  ))lace  of  the  nine  weaker 
ones.  The  disadvantage  of  location  whereby  some  pupils  have  a  greater 
flistance  to  go  between  home  and  school  than  they  had  under  the  one 
teacher  regime  has  been  overcome  by  motor  transportation  furnished 
by  the  county.  In  this  way  motor  busses  collect  the  children  in  the  morn- 
ing, take  them  to  school,  and  bring  them  back  home  after  the  school  day 
is  over.  For  this  service  Florence  County  spent  $4,400.32  in  1919,  this 
being  over  twice  the  amount  spent  by  any  otiier  cumty  in  the  State  for 
this  purjjosi'  during  the  same  jieriod. 

Consolidation  is  cheaper,  it  is  practical,  and  brings  about  better  re- 
sults. Wherever  feasible  we  want  to  consolidate  in  Florence  County 
and    do    awav    with    the    inefficient    one    teacher    school. 


22  Florenck  County:  Economic  and  Social 

Attendance. 

During  the  school  year  1919-1920,  there  were  enrolled  in  the  schools 
of  Florence  County,  under  the  operation  of  the  compulsory  education 
law,  15,500  children  of  school  age.  Of  this  number,  an  average  of  10,- 
709,  or  69  per  cent.,  were  in  daily  attendance.  In  other  words,  31  per  cent, 
of  the  pupils  were  absent  every  day  of  the  school  year,  or  approximately 
every  third  desk  was  vacant  every  time  the  roll  was  called.  We  need 
go  no  further  to  show  that  there  is  clearly  some  part  of  the  educational 
machinery  that  is    failing  to    function   properly. 

So  long  as  there  are  undue  numbers  of  absences  in  a  school  that  school 
will  never  attain  the  highest  degree  of  efficiency  of  which  it  is  capable. 
Absences  mean  a  loss,  not  alone  to  the  pupil  who  is  absent,  but  to  the 
pupil  who  is  present,  for  absentees  retard  the  progress  of  the  class  in 
that  it  becomes  necessary  that  the  teacher  slacken  up  in  order  that  the 
absentees  might  not  be  hopelessly  behind  at  the  end  of  the  school  term. 
So  it  behooves  every  parent  to  see  that  the  neighbor's  children  are  reg- 
ular in  attendance  as  well  as  his  own.  And,  too,  absences  mean  a  finan- 
cial loss.  In  Florence  County  during  the  scholastic  year  1919-1920  we 
expended  a  total  of  $289,803.31  for  the  further  of  education  in  the 
county.  During  the  same  period  31  per  cent,  of  the  children  on  whom 
this  sum  was  expended  were  habitually  absent.  It  therefore  follows  that 
for  the  year  31  per  cent,  or  $89,838.02  of  this  money  was  a  waste  so 
far  as  educational  production  is  concerned.  Is  not  this  a  startling  state 
of  affairs?  We  can  not  afford  to  allow  a  continuance  of  this  condition, 
looking  at  it  from  any  standpoint.  We  must  see  that  our  children  attend 
school  and  attend  regularly.  This  showing,  coming  as  it  does,  after  the 
compulsory  education  law  has  taken  effect,  clearly  indicates  that  the 
law  has  not  been  fully  enforced  and  has  not  borne  the  fruit  that  we  should 
expect.  During  the  school  year  1917-1918,  before  the  operation  of  the 
compulsory  education  law,  we  had  enrolled  12,319  children  and  an  av- 
erage attendance  of  8,469,  or  69.7  per  cent.  Consequently  it  can  be  seen 
that  the  law  has  increased  enrollment  by  79.4  per  cent.,  and  yet  the  at- 
tendance, the  thing  that  really  counts,  has  only  increased  three-tenths  of 
one  per  cent.  This  act  provides  for  regular  attendance  just  as  explic- 
itly as  it  does  enrollment,  yet  the  recent  enactment  of  this  measure  and 
the  consequent  inexperience  in  its  enforcement  may  be  given  as  the  rea- 
son for  the  poor  showing  in  attendance  for  the  first  year.  But  the  Leg- 
islature of  the  State  in  its  last  session  sounded  the  death  knell,  it  is  to 
be  hoped  temporarily,  to  the  enforcement  of  the  act  and  therefore  to 
the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  its  enactment  by  abolishing  truancy  of- 
ficers in  the  counties.  A  law  which  does  not  carry  with  it  machinery 
for  its  enforcement  becomes  a  dead  weight  upon  the  statute  books  of 
the  State,  and  in  the  end  does  more  harm  than  good.  Until  we  enforce 
tiiis  compul.sory   education  law   wc  can  cntcrlaiu  little  hope  of  dra  jj^ing 


Fi.oKENCK  County:  Economic  and  Social  23 

South  Carolina  from  the  bottom  step  of  the  educational  efficiency  ladder 
up  to  that  position  where  we  will  be  able  to  boast  of  our  educated  cit- 
izenship, rather  than  blush,  as  we  now  do,  at  the  mention  of  our  educa- 
tional standards  and  conditions. 

Teachers. 

The  average  salary  paid  white  school  teachers  in  Florence  County  dur- 
ing 1919  was  $497.70,  a  mere  pittance  compared  with  the  services  ren- 
dered. The  average  annual  salary  paid  men  teachers  was  $980.43,  but 
there  were  only  16  such  men  teachers  as  compared  with  181  white  wo- 
men who  received  the  pitiable  amount  of  $455.02  for  a  year's  work — 
a  little  over  one  dollar  a  day.  A  sound  price  warrants  a  sound  com- 
modity, but  there  is  no  warranty  when  that  sound  price  is  not  paid, 
and  the  citizens  of  Florence  County  have  no  kick  coming  if  their  chil- 
dren arc  poorly  trained  when  they  fail  to  pay  their  trainers  a  living 
wage.  If  they  don't  want  to  pay  but  $450  for  a  teacher,  let  them  be 
satisfied  with  a  $450  variety  of  teaching.  A  comparison  of  the  teach- 
er's salary  with  the  remuneration  given  employees  in  other  trades  in 
Florence  County  as  derived  from  estimates  furnished  by  the  1919  re- 
port of  the  State  Department  of  Agriculture  will  give  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  injustice  being  done  the  teacher.  Bakers  receive  $878  an- 
nually; confectioners  $1234;  electricians  $2105;  machinists  $1535; 
plumbers  $2,000;  and  day  laborers  $720.  We  expect  our  teachers  to 
spend  years  and  hundreds  of  dollars  in  preparation  for  their  work  in  the 
education  of  children,  and  then  pay  'them  about  one-half  as  much  as 
we  do  to  get  our  bath  tubs  installed  or  a  burst  water  pipe  repaired. 
There's  a  cruel  awakening  in  store  for  any  people  that  value  brawn  more 
than  they  do  brain.  We  should  insist  that  the  teachers  in  our  public 
schools  receive  salaries  that  compare  favorably  with  those  paid  in  sim- 
ilar occupations,  and  then  we  can  expect  and  demand  a  more  efficient 
service. 

Negro  Schools. 

We  have  two  distinct  systems  of  schools,  one  for  the  white  and  one 
for  the  negro.  While  the  State  has  never  yet  secured  sufficient  funds 
to  provide  everything  in  the  way  of  education  that  it  realizes  is  needed, 
still  each  year  shows  a  steady  advance  in  that  direction.  And  the  ne- 
gro schools  in  Florence  County  show  marked  improvement  during  the 
decade  between  1909  and  1919.  For  example,  in  1909,  $6,692.08  was  ex- 
pended for  the  education  of  the  negro  in  Florence  County;  in  1919, 
$18,761.82,  an  increase  of  almost  300  per  cent,  in  ten  years;  or,  $1.10 
per  colored  child  of  school  age  in  1909,  as  compared  with  $2.92  per  color- 
ed child  of  school  age  in  1919.  This  showing  is  interesting  and  also 
gratifying;  but  a  great  deal  more  might  be  done  for  the  negro  race 
along  these  lines,  with  advantage  to  the  whites  as  well  as  to  the  negroes. 


24  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

Ten  Year  Gains  in   Our  Schools. 


Total  Revenues $66,410.93 

Total    value    school    property    (white)    129,935.00 
Total    value    school    property    (col.) . . 
No.  local  tax  districts  with  extra  levy 

No.   extra  levy 

No  town  schools 

No.  country  schools 

No.  white  teachers 

No.  white  school  houses 

Spent  for  teachers  and  supervision  .  . 
Spent  for  buildings  and  supplies  . .  . . 
Spent    for    transportation   pupils    .  .     .  . 

Total  school  population 

Total    enrollment 

Per  cent,  of  enrollment 

Average  daily  attendance 

Per  cent,  average  daily  attendance  .  .  .  . 
Average  annual  salary  (white  men)  . . 
Average  annual  salary  (white  women) 
Average  annual  salary  (colored  men) 
Av.    annual    salary     T colored    women) 

How  We  Rank  in  Schools. 

Rank  1920 

23rd — in   percentage   in   regular   attendance    (white) 69.29 

Georgetown  leads  with  80.89  per  cent. ;   Cherokee  last 
with  60.30  per  cent. 

2<Jtli — in   percentage   in   regular  attendance    (ncgros)    68.89 

Georgetown  first  with  87.24  per  cent. ;    Hampton  last 
with  61.31  per  cent. 

25th — in  percentage  in  regular  attendance    (both   races) 69.08 

Georgetown  first  with  84.89  per  cent. ;  Dillon  last  with 
61.51  per  cent. 
3rd — in  percentage  of  white  schools  that  are  one-teacher  schools  16.39 
Darlington  leads   with    10.34   per   cent. ;    Beaufort  last 
with  76.47  per  cent.     Average  for  State  43.22  per  cent. 
8th — in  average  length  of  session  in  town  schools  (white)  in  days    177 
Calhoun,    Georgetown,    Lancaster   and    Richland    tie    for 
first  place,  with  180  days ;  Horry  last  with  136  days. 
6th — in  average  length  of  session  in  country  schools  (white)  days    139 
Charleston  leads  with  159;  Cherokee  last  with  90. 


P 

er  Cent 

1909 

1919 

Gain 

66,410.93 

$171,221.34 

157 

29,935.00 

405,698.00 

212 

12,695.00 

55,440.00 

2,Z7 

18 

48 

166 

24 

— 

— ) 

3 

5 

66 

57 

57 

— 

100 

197 

97 

60 

62 

3 

33,169.35 

98,046.92 

195 

8.067.11 

38,965.65 

383 

4,400.32 

— 

5612 

6512 

16 

3626 

6295 

74 

64.6 

96.6 

32 

3071 

4275 

39 

54.7 

65.6 

11 

578.90 

980.43 

69 

294.80 

455.02 

54 

129.15 

417.71 

223.4 

85.10 

175.91 

106.7 

Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  25 

10th — in  per  capita  expenditure  according  to  enrollment   (white)   $34.04 

Darlington  leads  with  $72.67;  Abbeville  last  with  $16.69 
8th — in  per  capita  expenditure  according  to  enrollment   (negro)     $3.61 

Charleston  leads  with  $11.57;  Bamberg  last  with  $1.45 

4th — in   i)cr  capita   expenditure  according  to   enrollment    (both)   $18.69 

Charleston  leads  with  $33.11 ;  McCormick  last  with  $7.23 

16th — in  average  salary  paid  white  teachers    (men)    $  1,170.66 

Charleston  first  with  $2,317.62;  Lexington  last  with  $537.60. 

9th — in  average  salary  paid  white  teachers    (women)    . .    . .        615.55 

Charleston  leads  with  $890.25 ;  Lexington  last  with  $385.38 

1st— in   per   capita    investment   in    -xhcol    property $29.07 

2nd — in  total   vakic  of   school  property $1,465,310.00 

Greenville  first  with  $2,568,374;  Fairfield  last  with  $75,331 

16th — in  number  of  local  tax  districts 51 

12th — in  number  local  tax  districts  levying  special  tax 51 

5th — in  receipts   from  State  appropriation    (both  races)    . .    $38,325.63 

Spartanburg  leads  with  $49,511.38;   Jasper  last  with  $3,180. 
7th — in  av.  number  white  pupils  to  school  according  to  enrollment  101 

Charleston  first  with  159;  Berkeley  last  with  31 
6th — in  average  number  white  pupils  to  school  according  to  av- 
erage attendance 69 

Charleston  leads  with   114;   Jasper  last  with  21. 
21st — in  average  number   white  pupils   to  teacher  according  to 

enrollment 31 

Beaufort,  Berkeley  and  Jasper  tie  for  first  place  with  23; 
Greenville  last  with  53. 
29th — in  average  number  white  pupils  to  teacher  according  to  av- 
erage attendance 21 

Jasper  and  Williamsburg  tie   for   first  place  with   15; 
Greenville  last  with  31. 


V 

WEALTH  AND  TAXATION 


J  p.  McNeill,  jr. 


The  total  taxatile  property  in  Florence  County  in  1920  amounted  to 
$31,647,900,  ranking  eighth  in  this  respect  among  the  counties  of  the 
State;  Charleston,  Spartanburg,  Richland,  Greenville,  Anderson,  Orange- 
burg and  Aiken,  in  the  order  given,  having  a  larger  total  proportion  on 
the  list.  This  constitutes  a  per  capita  of  taxable  property  in  Florence 
County  of  $627,  and  thus  ranking  fifteenth  among  the  counties.  In  1910 
the  total  taxable  property  amounted  to  $14,040,300,  which,  compared 
with  the  figures  of  1920,  indicates  an  increase  of  approxiamtely  12.4 
per  cent. 

An  Agricultu-ral  County 

Florence  County  is  and  always  has  been  preeminently  an  agricultural 
county,  and  there  are  only  nine  other  counties  in  the  State  which  can 
boast  a  greater  agricultural  wealth,  these  being,  in  almost  every  instance, 
of  greater  landed  area.  In  1910  our  total  farm  wealth  amounted  to  $11,- 
401,794;  in  1900  the  value  of  all  our  farm  property  was  only  $2,847,938. 
These  figures  indicate  a  remarkable  increase  of  over  400  per  cent,  while 
the  average  increase  for  the  State  for  the  same  period,  the  decade  be- 
tween 1900  and  1910,  was  155.3  per  cent.  We  rank  first  among  the 
counties  in  this  respect,  which  is  all  the  more  noteworthy  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  there  are  nineteen  counties  with  a  larger  amount  of  land  in 
farms. 

Tenancy  and  Mortgage  Debts 

In  1910  only  35.1  per  cent  of  our  farms  were  operated  by  owners, 
while  the  State  average  was  36.5  per  cent.  One-seventh  of  our  owner 
operated  farms  were  encumbered  by  mortgage,  with  an  aggregate  mort- 
gage debt  of  $250,412.  The  average  value  of  land  and  buildings  on 
owner-operated  farms  in  1910  was  $1,102,236;  so  it  can  be  seen  that  22.7 
per  cent  of  their  value  was  mortgaged.  Mortgage  debt  on  farm  proper- 
ties is  not  an  evil  when  the  end  is  property  ownership.  Statistics  do  not 
indicate  for  what  purpose  the  money  borrowed  is  applied,  but  if  it  is 
converted  into  more  land,  live-stock,  farm  buildings  and  farming  imple- 
ments, then  the  mortgage  debt  represents  expansion  and  development,  but 
not  so  when  used  for  bread  and  meat,  hay  and  other  operating  expenses. 

Sixty-four  and  three  tenths  per  cent  of  our   farms  arc  cultivate  1   b\ 


Florenck  County:  Economic  and  Social 


1/ 


tenants.  During  the  decade  from  1900  to  1910  tenancy  in  Florence 
County  increased  4  per  cent  and  an  increase  is  noted  in  South  Carolina 
and  the  United  States  generally.  The  counties  in  which  tenancy  is 
smallest  are  led  by  Georgetown  with  21.1  per  cent  and  Horry  and  Beau- 
fort with  27  per  cent  and  29.2  per  cent  respectively.  Tenancy,  like  mort- 
gage debt,  as  a  means  to  ultimate  ownership,  is  not  to  be  loked  upon  as 
a  harmful  tendency.  But  if  a  tenant  uses  rented  land  merely  as  a  means 
of  scant  livelihood  year  after  year  with  no  thought  of  saving  his  profits 
for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  land  on  which  to  live,  he  becomes  a 
liability  rather  than  an  asset  to  the  community  and  country.  Farm  ow- 
nership breeds  thrift,  pride  and  independence;  tenancy  encourages  lazi- 
ness, indifference  and  dependence.  There  is  plenty  of  room  for  improve- 
ment in  this  direction  in  our  county. 

Roads 

In  1904  we  had  676  miles  of  public  road  in  the  county.  According  to 
figures  furnished  by  the  County  Supervisor,  in  1919  we  had  1557  miles 
of  public  road,  50  miles  of  which  was  in  improved  sand  clay  and  top 
soil.  Our  4  mill  road  tax  yielded  $50,000  in  1919  which,  together  with 
$25,000,  the  estimated  value  of  the  labor  tax,  constituted  our  total  ex- 
penditure in  road  building  and  road  upkeep  during  the  year  1919.  These 
figures  indicate  an  expenditure  of  $48.17  per  mile,  as  against  $27.82 
in  1904.  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that  the  roads  were  given  twice 
as  much  attention  in  1919  as  in  1904,  for  the  increase  in  population  was 
about  as  great  as  the  increase  in  the  number  of  miles  of  public  road  for 
the  same  period,  but  the  increase  in  per  capita  expenditure  is  due  to  the 
higher  wages  demanded  and  the  higher  price  of  material. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  offer  argument  in  favor  of  good  roads;  it  is 
universally  conceded  nowadays  that  the  benefits  derived  from  good 
roads  greatly  overbalance  their  cost.  Yet  some  of  us  continue  to  look 
upon  a  universal  system  of  smooth,  well  graded  highways  as  an  ideal, 
the  attainment  of  which  will  require  so  many  more  years  than  any  of 
us  can  possibly  hope  to  live,  that  we  lose  our  personal  interest  in  the 
matter,  fold  our  hands,  heap  coals  of  fire  upon  the  heads  of  the  Coun- 
ty Supervisor  for  not  building  good  roads  without  money,  and  leave  it  to 
the  next  generation  to  experience  the  same  mental  and  physical  attitude. 
Good  roads  in  Florence  County  are  possible,  and  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when,  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  we  can  prove  the  allegation  that 
Henry  Ford  made  walking  a  pleasure  in  Florence  County  and  not  the 
highway  authorities. 

A  glance  at  the  following  figures  will  indicate  that  good  roads  are  en- 
tirely within  our  grasp.  The  average  cost  of  hauling  cotton  to  market 
has  been  estimated  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  to  be 
eighty  cents  per  bale.  In  1919  Florence  Coun+y  f^ir.n^d  42,5 '9  bales  of 
cotton.     The  cost  of  marketing  this  crop  was  $34,039,  if  computed  on  this 


28  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

basis.  To  each  bale  of  cotton  there  is  about  one  half  ton  of  cotton  seed 
which  was  hauled  from  the  farm  to  the  gin,  and  then  a  large  percentage 
of  it  hauled  again  to  the  shipping  point.  The  average  cost  of  hauling 
cotton  seed  in  the  United  States  is  $3.00  per  ton.  It  therefore  cost  us 
$67,837  to  haul  our  1919  crop  seed.  The  total  cost  of  hauling  our  1919 
cotton  crop  was  $97,876.  Any  system  of  road  improvement  which 
would  reduce  the  annual  hauling  charge  40  per  cent  and  that  is  a  con- 
servative estimate  of  the  value  of  good  roads,  would  effect  a  saving  of 
$39,150.40  each  year.  In  other  words,  we  would  save  on  the  hauling 
of  cotton  alone,  not  to  mention  the  many  other  commodities  to  be  haul- 
ed and  the  numerous  other  uses  to  which  the  roads  will  be  put,  an 
amount  sufficient  to  pay  5  per  cent  interest  annually  on  a  bond  issue  of 
$783,008.  This  sum  applied  to  sand  claying  roads  at  an  average  of 
$6,000  per  mile,  for  very  light  grading  is  necessary  in  our  county,  would 
place  130  miles  in  tip-top  shape,  and  thereby  almost  treble  our  present 
improved  road  mileage. 

This  is  merely  a  comparison  to  show  the  many  economic  advan- 
tages of  good  roads.  Space  will  not  permit  a  discussion  of  diversified 
farming,  more  favorable  marketing,  and  the  increase  in  the  value  of  farm 
lands  incident  to  good  roads.  The  added  advantages  of  improvement  in 
schools,  rural  mail  delivery,  and  improved  social  conditions  are  factors 
to  be  reckoned  with,  and  while  the  benefits  thus  derived  cannot  be  stated 
in  the  common  denominator  of  the  dollar,  no  one  will  gainsay  the  fact 
that  anything  which  causes  better  educational  facilities,  adds  to  the  en- 
joyment of  the  home  and  to  the  social  uplift  of  himself  and  family  does 
not   pay. 

We  need  good  roads.     Let's  get  them ! 

Automobiles 

In  1919  there  was  one  automobile  for  every  17  people  in  Florence 
County.  In  this  respect  she  ranked  third  among  the  counties  of  the 
State;  Richland,  with  the  ratio  of  1  to  12  and  Marlboro  with  the  ratio 
of  1  to  16,  outranking  her.  The  average  for  the  State  was  one  automo- 
I)ile   for  every  23  inhabitants. 

Assuming  $1,100  as  the  average  price  per  car,  Florence  County  with 
her  2425  automobiles  has  invested,  at  first  cost,  $2,667,500. 

Based  on  the  one-eighth  of  a  cent  a  gallon  tax  on  gasoline  we  used 
1,132,475  gallons  during  1919.  At  the  average  value  of  27  cents  a  gal- 
lon, this  totals  $395,768.25. 

Rating  the  average  number  of  miles  per  gallon  as  13,  there  were 
14,722,175  miles  traveled  on  this  gasoline.  Ten  cents  a  mile  would  be 
a  conservative  estimate  for  the  operating  expenses  of  a  car,  this  to  include 
gasoline  cost,  tires,  repairs  and  depreciation  on  car.  At  this  estimate 
it  would  indicate  that  it  cost  the  people  of  Florence  County  $1,472,217.75 


Florence  County:  Fa'onomic  and  vSocial  29 

to  operate  their  cars  during  1919,  or  a  cost  of  $607  per  car,  or  $1.66  per 
day  per  car.  Further,  this  represents  an  average  expenditure  of  $29.50 
per  capita  per  annum,  based  upon  the  total  population  of  the  count3%  car 
owner  or  no  car  owner.  Since  automobiles  have  come  into  general  use 
they  have  been  increased  approximately  20  per  cent  per  year,  and  on 
December  31,   1920,   we  find  3318  automobiles  in  Florence  County. 

The  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Education  for  1919  estimates 
the  value  of  all  school  property  in  Florence  County  at  $450,403,  or  about 
one-sixth  of  the  value  of  the  automobiles.  The  total  expenditure  in  1919 
in  our  county  for  schools  was  $155,774.39.  In  other  words,  we  spend 
over  nine  times  as  much  to  ride  in  automobiles  in  one  year  as  we  do 
to  educate  our  children.  These  facts  show  conclusively  that  we  are 
abundantly  able  to  spend  thousands  of  dollars  more  for  their  education 
and  thereby  place  our  money  in  an  investment  which  yields  ever  in- 
creasing dividends  and  which  knows  no  yearly  depreciation. 

Banks 

In  November  1919  we  had  18  banks  in  Florence  County,  3  national 
and  15  state  banks,  with  total  resources  of  $11,956,417.07.  In  1914  we 
had  14  banks,  one  national  and  13  state,  with  total  banking  resources  of 
$3,619,127.30.  These  figures  indicate  an  increase  of  326.7  per  cent  in  our 
banking  resources  during  five  years,  or  a  per  capita  increase  from  $101.46 
in   1914  to  $238.18  in   1919. 

The  years  1914  and  1919  were  chosen  to  indicate  the  growth  and  ex- 
pansion of  banking  in  our  county  for  the  reason  that  the  figures  for 
1914  will  indicate  pre-war  conditions,  and  those  of  1919  post-war  con- 
ditions. The  report  for  1920,  the  latest  figures  available,  could  not  be 
looked  upon  as  indicative  of  normal  conditions. 

Comparing  loans  and  discounts  for  this  period,  the  1919  figure  is 
$7,171,602.93;  those  for  1914,  $2,815,281.74.  An  increase  of  approxi- 
mately 250  per  cent  is  indicated  here. 

In  regard  to  savings,  we  find  that  in  the  15  state  banks  they  amounted 
to  $1,063,486.26  in  1919,  and  only  $318,062.48  in  1914,  or  an  increase  of 
300  per  cent.  The  national  comptroller  of  the  currency  does  not  require 
the  national  banks  to  report  savings  as  such  in  their  regular  reports, 
and  consequently  the  savings  on  deposit  in  our  national  banks  are  not 
included  in  the  totals  given  above. 

The  increase  in  capital  stock  has  not  been  so  marked.  The  figures 
for  1919  are  $980,000,  and  those  for  1914  are  $726,000,  or  an  increase  of 
only  74.1  per  cent.  In  other  words,  an  increase  of  326.7  per  cent  of  total 
resources  has  been  eiTected  on  a  74.1  per  cent  in  capital. 

This  increase  in  all  phases  of  banking  cannot  be  attributed  to  the  in- 
crease in  population,  for  from  1910  to  1919  we  only  increased  42  per 
cent  in  population,  while  we  increased  74.1  per  cent  in  capital  stock, 
250   per   cent   in   loans   and   discounts    and   326.7   per    cent   in   banking 


30  Florenck  County:  Economic  and  Social 

resources.    It  just  means,  that  while  times  are  good  we  gained  in  wealth 
and  have  laid  it  up   for   rainy  days  ahead. 

Taxation 

Florence  County  with  her  total  taxable  wealth  in  1920  of  $31,647,912 
ranked  eighth  among  the  counties  of  the  State  in  that  respect;  in  1917 
the  figures  were  $25,072,327.  Nineteen  counties  had  a  higher  tax  rate 
than  Florence  County.  Our  rate,  state  and  county,  was  $3.80  on  each 
hundred  dollars  worth  of  property.  The  City  of  Florence,  however,  with 
its  total  tax  levy  of  $8.75  per  hundred  dollars  worth  of  property  is  out- 
stripped by  only  two  other  cities  in  the  State,  Charleston  and  Ridgeland. 
Even  with  such  high  tax  rates,  under  the  present  general  property  ad 
7'aloreni  tax  the  revenues  are  insufficient  to  keep  pace  with  the  in- 
creasing demands  made  for  government,  education  and  improvements. 

The  present  tax  system,  and  no  other,  is  authorized  by  the  Constitution 
of  1895,  and  though  only  25  years  old,  has  proven  itself  inadequate  to  pro- 
vide for  a  fast  growing  society.  The  law  requires  that  all  property,  real, 
personal  and  possessory,  be  listed  and  returned,  assessed  and  taxed,  at 
its  actual  or  true  value  in  money.  That  this  provision  is  in  practice  a 
dead  letter  is  so  well  recognized  by  everybody  in  the  State  that  the  State 
Tax  Commission  in  1915  found  it  necessary  to  recognize  this  fact  of- 
ficially and  openly  to  proceed  with  the  equalization  of  assessments  on  a 
42  per  cent  basis.  Thus  the  general  charge  of  outlawry  against  our 
system  as  it  exists  in  point  is  proved,  for  the  operation  of  the  tax  sys- 
tem in  South  Carolina  "is  as  much  of  an  outlaw  business  as  the  gentle 
art  of  cracking  safes  or  of  distilling  moonshine  whiskey." 

Of  course,  taxation  is  a  state  wide  problem  and  its  solution  will  be 
state  wide  and  not  confined  to  any  one  county,  but  it  will  be  interesting 
to  mention  some  of  the  conditions  that  have  arisen  in  our  county  by  rea- 
son of  the  general  property  tax.  For  example,  in  1910,  the  United  States 
census  value  per  acre  of  land  in  Florence  County  was  $27.08,  and  we  all 
know  that  a  census  value  is  ultra  conservative  when  compared  with 
considerations  actually  paid  when  land  is  sold.  The  assessed  tax  value 
per  acre  for  1910  was  $4.42.  Ten  years  ago  might  be  considered  history 
by  some,  but  we  learn  that  in  1920,  last  year,  the  assessed  value  of  an 
acre  of  land  in  Florence  County  was  couched  in  the  grand  sum  of  $8.85. 
This  is  perfectly  absurd  when  land  all  around  us  is  being  sold  for  from 
$100  to  $400  per  acre.  From  a  report  made  by  a  Special  Committee  ap- 
pointed in  1920  by  the  General  Assembly  of  South  Carolina  to  make 
a  thorough  study  of  the  tax  situation  in  the  State  and  to  make  recom- 
mendations of  a  solution  thereof  we  find  that  out  of  a  number  of 
tracts  of  land  sold  in  Florence  County  between  July  1917  and  February 
1918  the  assessed  value  for  taxation  was  less  than  one-third  of  the  con- 
siderations actually  paid  therefor.     And  yet  we  wonder  why  we  have 


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Flokknce  County:  Economic  and  Social 


31 


such  high  tax  rates  and  still  not  raise  sufficient  revenue  to  meet  the 
increasing  demands  of  government !  In  addition  to  this,  most  of  the 
personal  property,  both  tangible  and  intangible,  which  constitutes  a  large 
part  of  our  wealth  and  from  which  a  large  part  of  our  taxes  should  be 
derived,  does  not  find  its  place  upon  our  tax  books.  The  land  owner  and 
the  corporations  in  Florence  County  bear  the  burden  of  taxation  simply 
because  the  man  whose  wealth  is  composed  of  personal  property  can 
keep  it  off  the  tax  books  and  the  land  owner  and  corporation  cannot. 
And  the  present  tax  law  in  the  State  makes  such  a  state  of  affairs 
possible. 


Real 
Estate 

»  7001. 735 

52.6;^ 

or  TOTAL 
[ASSESSMENT 

or- 


Property 


CHART  NUMBER    2 

Proportionate  Assessment  of  Real  Estate,  Psrsoral  Properly 
and  Railroad  Property  in  Florence  County  in  (920. 


Personal 
Property 

»4.357986 

32.8->c 


Railroads  j 

♦  1.93^402  I 
14.5  %  I 


The  special  committee  mentioned  above,  after  studying  the  tax  con- 
ditions in  the  State  from  every  angle,  came  to  the  conclusion  "that  there 
can  be  no  sound,  sane,  thorough-going  reform  of  the  taxing  system  of 
South  Carolina  until  the  constitutional  restrictions  upon  the  power  of 
the  General  Assembly  in  relation  to  the  general  property  tax  are  re- 
moved. Any  improvement  in  method  of  assessment  or  in  administrative 
machinery  is  mere  tinkering.  The  institution  of  other  methods  of  rais- 
ing revenue  might  result  in  some  temporary  relief  from  the  present 
strain  upon  the  timbers  of  a  tottering  structure.  All  such  devices  are 
but  props  to  keep  the  house  from  falling  when  the  foundation  has  rotted 
away.     The  only  sensible  course  is  to  rebuild  the  foundation." 


32  Fujrknck  County:  Economic  and  Social 

Facts  About  Wealth  and  Taxation  in  Florence  County 

Rank 

10th— in  total  farm  wealth,  1910  census $11,401,794.00 

1st — in  farm  wealth  increase  1900-1910,  per  cent 400 

State  increase   155.3  per  cent. 

7th — in  per  capita  country  wealth,    1910 390.00 

8th— in  total  taxable  property,  1920 31,647,900.00 

1st — in  increase  in  taxable  property,   1910-1920,  per  cent  123.72 

32nd — in  tax  rate  per  $100  ass'd  valuation  for  tax  year  1920  2.75 

18th — in  average  property  tax  rate  1920   (mills) 38 

15th— in  per  capita  wealth  1920 627.00 

Uth — in  per  capita  crop  values  on  the  eleven  leading  crops 

1920 159.96 

30th — in  farm  land  improved,  per  cent 42.2 

28th — in  average  improved  acres  per  farm,  1910 32.3 

24th — in  farms  operated  by  tenants,  1910,  per  cent 64.3 

26th— in  percentage  of  mortgaged  farms  are  of  total  number 

of  farms,  1910 8.9 

Total  number  farms  3870 ;   number  mortgaged  354. 
I3th — in    percentage    that    mortgaged    farms    are    of    total 

farms  owned  by  white  people,  1910 8.4 

Number  farms  owned  by  whites  3(564;  number  mort- 
gaged 306. 
24th — in  percentage  that   farms  owned  by  negroes  are  of 

total  farms  in  county,  1910 1.1 

12th — in  per  cent  of  negro  farms  mortgaged,  1910 15.7 

7th — in  number  of  automobiles,  1920 3318 

One  auto  for  every   16.9  inhabitants. 

6th — in  number   inhabitants   per   bank,    1920 2653 

Number  banks  19;  population  50,406. 

5th — in  per  capita  bank  resources,   1919 240.00 

5th — in  per  capita  bank  capital,  1919 18.09 

7th — in  per  capita  bank  loans  and  discounts,    1919    . .    . .  134.00 

12th — in  per  capita  bank  account  savings,  1919 21.00 


VI 

FARM  CONDITIONS  AND  PRACTICES 


J.  A.  CHASE,  JR. 


A  tabic  compiled  frdm  the  1910  census  and  other  authoritative  sources 
of  information  will  he  found  at  the  end  of  this  chapter.  In  some  items 
very  recent  figures  are  obtainable  and  these  have  been  used  as  far  as  pos- 
sible. The  table  simply  shows  certain  fundamental  facts  about  Florence 
County  set  over  against  similar  facts  about  other  counties  and  the  state 
at  large,  and  also  the  comparative  standing  over  a  term  of  years,  usually 
five  or  ten. 

Idle  Land  Predominates 

Industries  see  to  it  that  their  entire  plants  are  in  operation  all  the  time. 
This  is  not  true  of  our  farmers.  In  1910  only  33  per  cent,  or  one-third 
of  our  total  land  area  was  under  cultivation,  Florence  County  ranking 
21st  in  this  particular  among  the  counties  of  the  state. 

The  fact  is,  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  new  farm  families.  Reserving 
50,000  acres  for  wood-lot  uses  and  75  acres  to  each  family,  there  is 
room  for  1680  new  farm  families.  If  we  estimate  5  to  the  family,  this 
would,  mean  8,400  more  country  people  in  the  county.  This  would  be 
a  distinct  social  advantage,  because  it  would  bring  the  people  closer  to- 
gether and  afford  an  opportunity  for  greater  cooperation. 

In  1910  our  farms  averaged  32.3  acres  per  farm.  There  were  381 
farms,  which  contained  175  acres  or  more,  which  could  be  divided  to 
the  best  advantage.  It  is  these  large  farms  which  should  be  divided. 
Certainly  we  do  not  need  farms  reduced  to  the  small,  one-horse  type, 
which  would  preclude  the  profitable  use  of  much  labor-saving  machin- 
ery. The  need  is  for  more  such  machinery,  with  more  and  heavier 
work  animals.  Small  mules  and  horses  and  the  one-horse  plow  are 
among  our  greatest    farm   disadvantages. 

Farm  Tenancy  and  its   Evils 

This  is  one  of  the  grave  problems  confronting  our  county,  as  well 
as  our  state  and  nation,  and  one  which  should  receive  its  due  consideration 
by  every  one  The  history  of  farming  clearly  shows  that  no  commun- 
ity ever  reaches  its  highest  "stage  of  agricultural  development  until  the 
farms  are  operated  mainly  by  owners.  There  are  three  facts  which  are 
detrimental    to   the   existence   of   tenancy — industry,   thrift   and   sagacity. 


34  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

If  it  were  not  due  to  the  lack  of  any  one  of  these  or  a  combination  of 
these,  tenancy  would  not  exist  today.  We  can  see  too  that  livins?  on  this 
basis,  the  tenant  does  not  have  any  personal  interest  in  the  advance  of 
the  land  that  he  occupies  and  never  looks  to  the  future  and  the  benefits 
it  will  bring  Existing  on  the  supply-merchant  plan,  he  is  forced  to  grow 
ready-money  crops  and  neglect  food  and  feed  crops  and  livestock.  How 
can  we  expect  to  develop  a  community  spirit  where  its  people  are  fre- 
quently moving  from  place  to  place?  The  tenant  has  no  inclination  to 
beautify  his  home  or  premises  or  in  helping  to  maintain  good  schools, 
roads,   churches,   and   law   and   order   in   his    community 

Let  us  draw  a  general  comparison  between  the  general  conditions  of 
the  state  and  Florence  County  in  this  particular.  Only  two  states  in  the 
nation  have  a  greater  percentage  of  tenancy;  namely,  Mississippi,  with 
66.1  per  cent.,  and  Georgia  with  65.6  per  cent.  South  Carolina  has 
63  per  cent.  In  1910  there  were  176,433  farms  in  South  Carolina.  Of 
these  111,221  were  operated  by  tenants,  or  to  state  it  in  percentage,  63 
per  cent,  of  the  farms  were  operated  by  farmers  who  did  not  own  them. 
One  striking  fact  is  that  tenancy  is  on  the  increase  not  only  in  South 
Carolina,  but  in  the  nation  as  a  whole,  particularly  in  the  Southern 
States.  The  increase  in  South  Carolina  has  not  been  so  pronounced  in 
any  decade,  still  it  has  been  rather  uniform.  Of  the  43  counties  (1910) 
of  the  state,  24  had  a  percentage  greater  than  63  per  cent.,  the  average 
for  the  state  as  whole.  According  to  statistics,  the  percentage  of  farms 
operated  by  tenants  is  higher  in  the  Piedmont  than  in  the  Coastal  sec- 
tion. 

In  1910  there  were  3,970  farms  in  Florence  County.  Of  these,  2,552 
were  operated  by  tenants,  or  to  state  it  in  percentage,  64.3  per  cent,  of  the 
farms  were  operated  by  farmers  who  did  not  own  them.  In  this  par- 
ticular Florence  ranked  24th  among  the  counties  of  the  state.  Another 
striking  fact  is  that  35.1  per  cent  of  all  our  farm  lands  were  operated 
by  tenants.  There  are  two  prevalent  types  of  tenancy  in  our  county — 
share  and  cash.  Of  all  the  tenants  in  the  county,  29.3  per  cent,  are  share 
tenants,  and  64.6  per  cent,  cash  tenants. 

Of  all  the  farms  operated  by  whites  and  negroes,  we  find  that  where 
tenancy  is  prevalent  there  is  a  greater  negro  problem.  Of  all  the  ten- 
ant in  South  Carolina  68.6  per  cent,  are  negroes,  while  31.4  per  cent, 
are  white.  This  further  shows  that  tenancy  is  more  prevalent  among 
negroes  than  among   whites. 

What  is  the  remedy?  Encouragement  and  unselfish  cooperation  by 
fortunate  land  owners  is  the  only  hope.  The  tenants  need  to  buy  and 
maintain  their  own  farms  and  devote  their  attention  to  the  betterment  of 
their  own  farms  and  their  communities,  and  the  road  to  this  seemingly 
unsurmountable  problem   will   be  advanced. 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  35 

Agriculture  Predominates 

Wc  know  that  Florence  is  predominantly  agricultural  and  consequently 
in  solving  her  problems,  we  should  take  the  farmer's  point  of  view,  for  it 
affects  the  majority  of  the  people.  Only  eight  counties  of  the  state  pre- 
ceded Florence  in  value  of  farm  property  in  1910,  this  amounting  to 
$11,401,794.  The  grand  total  for  wealth  produced  in  1910  amounted 
to  $4,596,078.  But  a  damper  is  thrown  on  this  when  we  note  that  76 
per  cent,  of  this  total  wealth,  which  covers  both  crop  and  livestock  pro- 
ducts, was  produced  by  non-food  crops,  such  as  cotton  and  tobacco. 

But  how  much  do  the  farmers  actually  retain  of  this  farm  wealth? 
Well,  the  plain  fact  is  that  our  farmers  create  76  per  cent,  of  their  total 
annual  wealth  out  of  cotton  and  tobacco,  and  then  it  is  paid  out  to  wes- 
tern farmers  who  supply  us  with  the  necessities  of  life.  The  western 
farmers  produce  the  bulk  of  the  food  and  feed  that  is  consumed  in  our 
state  annually. 

The  idea  seems  to  prevail  that  it  is  more  profitable  for  our  farmers  to 
produce  these  non-food  crops  and  then  buy  their  food  and  feed  crops 
from  the  outside.  But  such  is  not  the  case.  According  to  government 
experiments,  the  man  who  raises  food  and  feed  crops  along  with  to- 
bacco and  cotton  is  in  a  better  condition  than  his  neighbor  who  raises 
cotton  and  tobacco  and  buys  food  and  feed. 

There  are  still  two  stronger  arguments  for  the  farmer  to  correlate 
his  food  and  feed  crops  with  his  non-food  crops.  First,  results  compiled 
from  experiments  made  by  the  government  have  proved  that  hay,  forage, 
corn,  pork  and  beef  can  be  produced  in  the  South  much  cheaper  than  in 
the  West.  Second,  if  the  farmer  raises  his  own  home  necessities,  he  is 
saved  from  the  high  and  at  times  unjust  prices  of  the  middleman  and 
adds  to  his  own  bank  account. 

Yet  farmers  argue  that  it  is  more  profitable  to  raise  the  money-crops 
and  then  buy  the  food  and  feed  crops,  but  no  doubt  most  of  them  will 
agree  that  it  is  cheaper  to  produce. 

We  are  not  unaware  of  the  fact  that  there  is  a  great  profit  in  these 
money  crops,  but,'  when  we  realize  that  such  a  large  part  of  these  profits 
have  to  be  used  to  buy  food  that  we  can  ourselves  raise  more  cheaply,  it 
is  a  very  unwise  policy  to  expend  all  our  energy  in  the  production  of 
cotton  and  tobacco.  The  point  we  wish  to  emphasize  is  that  the  atten- 
tion of  the  farmer  should  be  directed  to  food  and  feed  crops  and  to  live- 
stock, as  well  as  to  the  two  big  money  crops. 

One  Crop  System 

There  are  seven  fundamental  evils  to  this  plan  of  farming:  (1)  It 
impoverishes  the  soil;  (2)  It  increases  the  risk  of  the  farming  enterprise; 
(3)  It  makes  the  supply  of  money  available  at  one  time  and  develops 
the  time-credit  system;   (4)  It  makes  the  marketing  machinery  difficult; 


36  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

(5)  It  makes  for  idleness  of  machinery  and  labor;  (6)  It  lowers  the 
general  intelligence  of  farm  labor;  (7)  It  has  a  depressing  effect  on  the 
social  life  of  the  community.  A  discussion  of  these  evils  is  not  necessary 
for  it  is  obvious  from  the  mere  statements  themselves  virhat  a  bad  efifect 
they  have  on  agricultural  advancement. 

In  South  Carolina  48  per  cent,  of  the  total  acreage  of  the  crops  in 
1920  v\ras  cotton,  and  51  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  eleven  leading  crops 
was  cotton.  Consequently,  we  join  the  list  of  the  State's  practising  the 
one-crop   system. 

There  were  two  possible  stimulants  to  the  one-crop  system  in  the  ear- 
lier days — the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  and  slavery.  In  1793  when 
Eli  Whitney  invented  the  cotton  gin,  immediately  this  crop  began  to  ad- 
vance and  grew  so  rapidly  that  in  a  few  years  it  became  the  chief  crop 
of  our  county,  as  well  as  state.  In  1796  when  our  state  enacted  a  law 
against  the  slave  trade,  the  cotton  production  began  to  decline  and  finally 
went  to  such  a  point  that  it  was  necessary  to  repeal  this  law  in  order 
that  cotton  be  produced  successfully.  In  other  words,  the  Southern  farm- 
ers found  that  for  cotton  culture  to  prove  profitable,  the  negro,  the  cheap- 
est human  labor,   would  have  to  be  employed. 

Consequently  as  long  as  we  persist  in  employing  the  one-crop  system, 
we  need  not  ever  expect  to  be  a  self-sufficing  county.  From  an  eco-. 
nomic  standpoint  this  should  be  the  aim  and  goal  of  every  county  in 
South   Carolina. 

Cotton 

Florence  takes  a  high  rank  in  total  cotton  production  among  the  coun- 
ties of  the  state,  only  12  counties  preceding  her  in  this  particular.  An 
interesting  fact  to  note  is  that  the  production  of  this  crop  increases  an- 
nually. As  an  example,  35,204  bales  were  ginned  in  1917;  40,357  in 
1918;  and  42,549  in  1919;  with  the  record,  43,000  bales  in  1920.  Taking 
the  value  on  the  basis  of  December  1,  1920,  price,  the  cotton  crop  of 
1920  would  sell  for  $2,992,800.  Only  9  counties  preceded  Florence 
in  the  total  production  of  cotton  in  pounds  per  acre,  the  county  average 
being  278  pounds  of  lint  cotton. 

Tobacco 

Within  the  last  few  years  Florence  has  come  to  be  a  great  tobacco 
producing  county.  In  1920  our  county  tied  with  Williamsburg  for  first 
place  among  the  tobacco  producing  counties  of  the  state,  our  production 
amounting  to  9,900,000  pounds.  What  does  this  mean?  It  means  that 
for  the  past  few  years  more  money  has  come  into  the  hands  of  the  farm- 
ers, and  that  they  are  better  able  to  support  good  schools,  good  roads, 
better  teachers  for  rural  schools  and  to  take  part  in  all  forms  of  com- 
munity improvement. 


I'"i,()Ki:nce  County:  I'vConomic  and  Sociai, 


This  crop  has  made  a  reinarkalile  ir.c-;ca.se  in  tlic  last  decade.  For 
example,  in  1900  we  produced  381,970  buslicls  of  corn,  in  1910  an  in- 
crease of  203,491  bushels  or  585,461  bushels  produced;  or  to  state  the 
same  fact  in  percentage,  we  made  an  increase  of  53.27  per  cent,  in  ten 
years.  In  1920,  there  was  a  production  of  1,392,000  bushels,  with  a 
value  of  $1,614,729.  Another  noteworthy  fact  is  that  only  two  coun- 
ties preceded  us  in  yield  per  acre,  Florence  producing  24  bushels  to  the 
acre,  on  the  average. 

There  is  still  another  distinction  that  Florence  County  can  boast  of — 
the  world's  record  in  corn  produced  per  acre.  Under  the  direction  ot 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1910,  Jerry  Moore  of 
Mars  Bluff  produced  228  3-4  bushels  of  corn  on  a  one-acre  plot.  Up 
to  1920  this  is  the  authentic  record  yield  in  the  world. 

Non-Food   Crops 

The  value  of  the  non-food  crops  in  1910  was  $3,206,580,  only  nine 
counties  preceding  Florence  in  this  particular.  According  to  1920  sta- 
tistics from  the  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates,  the  value  of  the  two  main 
non-food  crops,  cotton  and  tobacco,  amounted  to  $5,348,800.  A  marked 
increase  of  $2,142,220,  despite  the  fact  that  the  value  of  these  two 
crops  was  on  a  considerable  decline  during  the  past  year.  Of  the  total 
crop  of  the  county  the  non-food  crops  produced  constituted  76  per  cent. 
Marlboro  preceding  by  only  9  points  with  85  per  cent. 

We  can  see  the  crying  need  from  these  facts,  of  an  efficient  local 
market.  Effective  markets  lower  the  cost  of  living  by  bringing  produc- 
ers and  consumers  into  direct  relation  with  each  other.  A  probable  so- 
lution of  this  problem  in  cotton,  would  be  to  adopt  the  cooperative 
plan  now  advocated  by  the  Extension  Service  of  Clemson  College. 
Its  aim  is  to  effect  saving  in  those  steps  between  the  growing  and 
consuming  of  a  commodity  where  loss  or  unnecessary  waste  now  oc- 
cur, by  efficient  grading  and  pooling  of  cotton  to  adjust  the  supplv 
to  the  demand  so  that  this  law  may  operate  freely  and  fairly.  The  sys- 
tem has  been  tested  in  California  and  has  proven  to  be  an  excellent 
one.     Why  not  adopt  it   in   South   Carolina  ? 

Sweet    Potatoes 

In  1910  there  were  1,218  acres  planted  in  sweet  potatoes  with  a  yield 
of  145,228  bushels.  According  to  the  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates  in  1920 
there  were  2,500  acres  planted  in  this  commodity  with  a  yield  of  290,000 
bushels.  In  other  words,  in  ten  years  we  had  more  than  doubled  our 
acreage  and  yield,  and  this  crop  has  never  become  a  valuable  asset  among 
the  crops  produced  in  the  county. 


449627 


38  Florhnce  County:  Economic  and  Social 

But  Florence  needs  more  individual  and  cooperative  sweet  potato  stor- 
age houses  in  the  county,  and  if  we  will  only  begin  on  a  small  scale  the 
advantages  of  cooperation  could  be  realized.  There  are  four  main  ad- 
vantages of  a  cooperative  sweet  potato  association:  First,  it  furnishes 
a  more  regular  and  ready  market;  Second,  it  supplies  a  market  of  wider 
range  than  that  of  the  independent  grower;  Third,  it  enables  packing 
and  marketing  of  a  more  uniform  product;  and  Fourth,  it  secures  higher 
prices   resulting   from   shipment  in  bulk. 

The  movement  is  becoming  widespread  throughout  the  state  and  in  it 
lies  the  hope  of  a  solution  of  the  present  situation. 

Farms 

According  to  the  advanced  Census  Report  of  1920,  there  are  5,291 
farms  in  Florence  County,  only  seven  counties  in  the  State  preceding  her 
in  this  particular.  In  1900,  there  were  3,173  farms;  in  1910,  they  num- 
bered 3,970,  so  we  observe  that  there  has  been  a  steady  increase  for  the 
past  two  decades. 

The  enumerators  of  the  Census  were  instructed  to  include  under  im- 
proved land,  "all  land  regularly  tilled  or  mowed,  land  pastured  and 
cropped  in  rotation,  land  lying  fallow,  land  in  gardens,  orchards,  nur- 
series, and  land  occupied  by  buildings."  In  1910  the  average  number 
of  improved  acres  per  farm  in  Florence  County  was  32.3  acres,  being 
below  the  average  for  the  state  by  2.3  acres.  Also  in  the  per  cent,  of 
improved  land  in  farms  Florence  fell  below  the  state  average  by  1.1 
per  cent.,  Florence  having  42.2  per  cent  and  the  state  43.3  per  cent. 

There  is  one  fact  we  must  notice,  that  there  are  more  negro  farmers 
in  the  county  than  white  farmers.  In  1910  there  were  1,926  white  farm- 
ers against  2,044  negro  farmers.  What  does  this  signify?  It  shows 
that  the  county's  agricultural  advancement  is  being  handicapped  and 
retarded  by  the  ignorance  of  the  negro  in  his  faming  operations  and 
is  hindering  the  county  from  becoming  one  of  the  leading  agricultural 
centers  of  the  state.  Either  the  negro  must  be  educated  to  the  modern 
and  economic  plan  of  farming  or  he  must  be  restricted  in  his  energies 
along  this  line. 

One  fact  will  prove  this.  According  to  a  computation  of  Thomas  J. 
Jones  in  1909,  the  product  per  agricultural  worker  in  1900  was  for  the 
State  of  Iowa  $1,088;  and  South  Carolina  $147.46,  or  the  Iowa  worker, 
largely  because  of  greater  skill,  is  able  to  produce  more  than  seven  times 
as  much  wealth  annually  as  the  worker  in  South  Carolina. 

What  we  need  more  than  any  other  element  in  our  Southern  industrial 
life  is  trained  laborers  and  this  necessity  can  only  be  remedied  by  the 
cooperation  of  the  whites. 

Our  Livestock  Situation 

The    farms   in   Florence  are  too   lightly   stocked.     We  do   not   have 


\ 


Florenck  County:  Economic  and  Social  S') 

enough  animals  and  those  we  do  have  are  not  all  of  the  best  quality. 
According  to  the  1910  Census  there  are  77,696  animal  units  needed  in 
the  county,  yet  there  are  only  20,651.  A  shortage  of  57,045  units.  The 
same  fact  in  percentage  is  that  of  our  farms  are  stocked,  only  27  per 
cent,  on  a  lightly  stocked  basis,  in  other  words,  we  are  73  per  cent,  below 
the  level.  Our  livestock  ought  to  be  quadrupled  in  number. 

What  is  the  solution?  To  create  an  interest  in  livestock  and  make 
improved  farm  animals  the  basis  of  farm  property.  They  will  fertilize 
our  soils  and  feed  our  families,  leaving  the  money-crops  to  furnish  cash 
for    our    pocket-books    and    bank    accounts. 

There  are  176,030  acres  absolutely  idle  in  the  county  which  would 
take  years  to  be  brought  into  proper  cultivation  by  planting  them  in 
crops.  Why  not  utilize  this  land  by  raising  livestock?  There  is  every 
reason  why  we  should.  We  have  a  cHmate  well  suited  to  livestock,  and 
wonderful  opportunities  to  develop  livestock  farming  and  livestock  in- 
dustries, creameries  and  tiie  like.  Again,  too,  our  soils  are  well  adapted 
to  grains  and  grasses,   being   fertile  and   well   drained. 

Yet  there  is  room  for  encouragement.  Florence  has  shown  an  increase 
of  12  per  cent,  in  the  number  of  poultry  from  1900-1910.  This  was  a 
good  gain  but  not  in  comparison  with  the  increase  in  population  or  the 
demand  for  poultry  and  eggs.  Doubtless  the  present  high  prices  for 
poultry  and  eggs  have  stimulated  the  energies  of  some  of  our  thrifty 
farmers  in  these  profitable  side  lines.  It  is  one  of  the  most  profitable 
by-prcducts  on  South  Carolina  farms  today,  and  we  say  by-product  be- 
cause with  only  a  little  attention  a  barnyard  hen  may  produce  approx- 
imately 200  eggs  a  year,  which  at  the  present  prices  are  worth  $6  or 
more. 

According  to  the  1910  Census  and  the  1920  figures  of  the  Bureau 
of  Crop  Estimates,  there  has  been  an  increase  of  74  per  cent,  in  the 
number  of  hogs  raised  in  Florence  County  from  1910-1920,  twenty- 
three  counties  preceding  Florence  in  this  particular.  The  value  of 
home-raised  meats  is  known  to  every  one  and  this  subject  need  not 
be  enlarged  upon  here.  Prevailing  prices  certainly  afford  a  suffi- 
cient stimulus,  so  let  us  hope  that  we  shall  continue  to  increas  in 
pork  production  and  save  the  many  hard  earned  dollars  derived  from 
thep    roduction   of    cotton   that   are   being    spent    for   imported  meat. 

In  our  standing  in  number  of  cattle  and  their  increase  from  1910  to 
1920,  the  figures  are  most  encouraging.  In  1910  there  were  5,824 
cattle  and  11,000  in  1920;  an  increase  of  5,176.  A  percentage  increase 
of  88  per  cent.,  Florence  ranking   fourth  in  this  respect. 

Horses  have  increased  rather  slowly,  from  2,012  in  1910  to  2,600  in 
1920.  But  this  is  probably  due  to  the  growing  popularity  of  the  automo- 
bile and  the  advancement  of  farm  machinery. 

Mules,  in  contrast  to  horses,  have  shown  a  greater  increase.     In  the 


40  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

past  decade  there  was  an  increase  of  3,169  mules,  so  this  shows  that  our 
farmers  are  a  bit  reluctant  in  the  newest  plans  of  land  cultivation. 
That  is,  our  farmers  have  been  slow  in  adopting  the  farm  tractor  and 
other  farm  motor  machinery  for  the  cultivation  of  the  land. 

Our  farmers  ought  to  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  whether  we  consider 
the  state  or  the  United  States,  we  find  that  high  per  capita  country 
wealth  goes  hand  in  hand  with  an  abundance  of  domestic  animals,  and 
that  low  per  capita  wealth  is  always  found  where  cattle  and  other  farm 
animals  are  lacking. 

Facts  About  Farm  Conditions  and  Practices 

(Note — Rank  indicates  counties  of  state  that  make  a  better  showing.) 

10th— in  total  farm  wealth,  1910 $11,401,794.00 

7th — in  per   capita  country   wealth,    1910 390.00 

18th — in   percentage   of   negro    farm   owners    of    the    total 

farms  of  the  county,  per  cent 1  ^ 

Negro  farm  owners  in  Florence  County  306 ;  white 
farm  owners  in  Florence  3,664. 

41st — in  white  farm  mortgages  in  1910,  per  cent 5.6 

Number  of  white   farms  mortgaged  306. 

12th — in  negro   farm  mortages  in   1910,   per  cent 15.7 

Number   of    negro    farms   mortgaged  48. 

21st — in  per  cent  of  total  land  under  cultivation 33 

Land  under  cultivation  128,269  acres.  Idle  and  other 
unimproved  land,  176,030  acres.  Reserving  50,000 
acres  for  woodlots  and  allowing  75  acres  to  each 
family,  there  is  room  for  1680  new  farm  families 
in  Florence  County. 

8th— in  number  of  farms,  1920 5,291 

Average  cultivated  acres  per  farm  32.3.  Size  of 
cultivated  farms  larger  in  25  counties;  3,058  farms 
are  less  than  50  acres  in  size ;  and  2,419  farms  are 
over  50  acres  in  size,  both  cultivated  and  uncultivated 
considered. 

18th — in   poultry    increase,    1900-1910,    per    cent 12 

4th— in  cattle  increase,  1900-1910,  per  cent 88 

24th — -in   hog   increase,    1910-1920,    per   cent 74 

24th — in    farm   tenancy,    per   cent . .     . .  64.3 

State  average  63  per  cent.  vShare  tenants  are  29.3 
per  cent  of  the  total  farm  tenants,  and  cash  tenants 
are  64.6  per  cent. 

1st — in    tobacco    production.    1920,    pounds 9,900,000 

3rd — in  tobacco   production,   per  acre,    1920,   pounds    .  .     .  .  660 

13th— in  cotton  production,   1920,  bales 43,000 

10th— in   cotton   production,   per   acre,    1920,    pounds    .  .     .  .  278 


\ 


Im.orknciv  County:  Economic  and  Social  41 

10th— in    value   of    non-food   crops    produced,    1910    ..     ..$3,206,580.00 
31st — in   food  and  feed  crops,  per  cent  of  the  total   crop 

value 24 

Beaufort    56   per   cent;    Marlboro    15   per   cent. 
11th — in   crop   value   of   eleven   leading   crops,    per   capita, 

1920 $159.96 

Calhoun  $234.01;    Charleston  $25.37. 

18th— in  room  for  new  settlers,   1910 8400 

Horry   19,270;   Calhoun   1,820. 

12th— in  value  of  crops  per  acre,    1920 $41.00 

Value  of  crops  $8,063,000.     Beaufort  $72;  Lancaster, 
McCormick  and  York  $27. 
"til — in   value   of    farm    implements   per   acre,    1910    .  .     . .  $2.86 

9th   in   annual    farm   wealth    produced,    1910 $4,584,504 

This  total  covers  both  crops  and  livestock  products. 
The  need  is  for  more  food  crops,  better  livestock  and 
more   livestock   industries. 


VII 


BALANCE  SHEET  IN  FOOD  AND  FEED 
PRODUCTION 


J.  A.  CHASE,  JR. 


$2,170,850    Under-ProductJon 

According  to  a  statement  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  compiled  from 
the  1910  census,  the  food  and  feed  supplies  for  the  household  and  farm 
consumed  in  Florence  County  amounted  to  $2,170,850  more  than  the 
farmers  of  the  county  produced.  This  is  to  say  that  the  farms  of  the 
county  failed  to  produce  the  food  and  feed  needed  for  man  and  beast  by 
this  amount.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  deficit  comes  from  staple 
bread-stuffs  and  not  dainties  and  luxuries ;  and  that  these  annual  con- 
sumption averages  are  based  on  figures  as  reported  by  federal  authori- 
ties. 

One  very  noticeable  fact  is  that  Florence  County  has  an  over-produc- 
tion of  meat  by  1.232,234  pounds;  yet  this  encouraging  state  of  affairs  is 
modified  when  we  notice  that  the  per  cent,  of  animals  in  a  lightly  stocked 
farm  area  are  only  27  per  cent,  of  the  normal,  in  other  words,  the  county 
is  IZ  per  cent,  below  the  level.  Or  to  state  it  differently,  the  farms  of 
the  county  are  supporting  only  one-fourth  of  the  livestock  which  they 
should  be  carrying  under  a  balanced  farming  system. 

This  under-production  in  detail  covers  1,597,534  pounds  of  butter, 
372,112  dozen  eggs;  245,627  fowls;  558,034  bushels  of  corn;  125,194  bush- 
els of  wheat,  and  5,845  tons  of  hay. 

Some  Reasons   Why 

Our  farmers  do  not  supply  this  two  and  a  quarter  million  dollar  mar- 
ket demand,  because  of  (1)  the  inherited  one-crop  system,  or  too  much 
attention  to  cotton  and  tobacco  and  too  little  to  food  and  feed  crops;  (2) 
the  lack  of  ready  cash  markets  for  home-raised  supplies;  (3)  ex- 
cessive farm  tenancy,  coupled  with  the  time-price  system.  Perhaps  the 
most  important  reason  is  that  there  is  no  ready  cash  market  for  home- 
raised  supplies,  which  forces  the  farmer  to  raise  cotton,  tobacco  and 
other  money-crops  to  the  utter  disregard  of  the  food  and  feed  crops. 

Shortage  in  Home  Raised  Supplies 

At  the  very  outset  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  our  home-raised 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 


43 


N^ 


supplies  are  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  demand.  This  is  all  due  to  one 
fact,  the  farmers  of  the  county  are  devoting  too  much  attention  to  cotton 
and  tobacco  and  too  little  attention  to  grain  crops,  hay  and  forage,  do- 
mestic animals  and  livestock  products.  Therefore,  so  long  as  it  is 
necessary  for  us  to  purchase  supplies  outside  of  the  county,  we  are  not 
on  a  safe  farming  basis. 

In  1910  our  population  was  14.1  per  cent,  greater  than  in  1900,  and  the 
corn  crops  show  a  1.3  per  cent,  increase.  In  1900  we  produced  17,640 
bales  of  cotton  and  in  1910  we  produced  56,590  bales  or  an  increase  of 
220  per  cent.  These  facts  are  within  themselves  convincing  evidence  that 
such  a  condition  exists. 

According  to  government  statistics,  in  the  census  year  1910  we  need- 
ed 1.105,801  bu.shels  of  corn  for  man  and  beast,  but  we  only  produced 
547,767  bushels,  leaving  a  deficit  of  558,034  bushels.  Florence  ranked 
16th  in  per  capita  production  of  corn,  producing  16.1  bushels  per  inhab- 
itant when  31  bushels  were  consumed,  thereby  showing  a  deficit  of  14.9 
bushels    per    person. 

Our  wheat  production  also  showed  a  striking  deficit.  The  demand 
was  142,684  bushels,  while  the  production  was  17,490  bushels,  showing 
a  shortage  of  125,194  bushels.  Twenty-three  counties  preceded  Florence 
in  per  capita  production  of  wheat.  Four  bushels  were  needed  per  person 
but  only  0.5  of  a  bushel   per  person  was  produced. 

Our  hay  and  forage  also  fell  behind.  With  a  consumption  of  10,298 
tons  the  production  was  4,453  tons,  showing  a  shortage  of  5,845  tons. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Florence  preceded  26  counties  in  the  total  hay 
and  forage  production.  The  county  ranked  20th  in  the  increase  from 
1900-1910,  with  IZ  per  cent. 

Likewise  we  are  deficient  in  our  production  of  butter.  With  1,712,208 
pounds  needed,  114,674  pounds  were  produced,  showing  that  1,597,534 
pounds  had  to  be  secured  from  outside  sources.  We  preceded  nineteen 
counties  in  per  capita  production  of  butter,  the  total  being  three  and 
two-tenths  pounds  per  person  out  of  forty-eight  pounds  for  the  average 
consumption. 

Seventeen  counties  produced  more  eggs  than  Florence;  we  needed 
624,242  dozen  and  produced  242,130  dozen— a  deficit  of  372,112  dozen. 
Florence  averaged  10.4  dozen  in  the  production  per  person. 

Our  poultry  deficit  was  245,627  fowls,  which  fact  is  inexcusable,  for 
we  must  remember  that  there  are  no  city  ordinances  against  raising 
poultry  in  the  city  limits.  We  produced  5.1  fowls  compared  to  twelve 
fowls  needed,  ranking  2Sth  in  the  state. 

Florence  fell  to  a  low  rank  in  beef  production.  The  state  average 
was  19.5  pounds  while  ours  was  only  10.  Thus,  it  is  obvious  that  there  is 
a  great  need  for  the  raising  of  more  cattle. 


44  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

Three    Main    Causes 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  there  are  three  main  causes  why 
our  county  fails  to  be  a  self-feeding  one:  (1)  Excessive  farm  ten- 
ancy, (2)  lack  of  attention  to  food  and  feed  crops,  (3)  and  the  neces- 
sity for  a  ready  cash  market  for  home-raised  supplies.  W'e  shall  elabo- 
rate upon  these  three  causes. 

In  1910  nearly  two-thirds  of  our  farms  in  South  Carolina  were  op- 
erated by  tenants,  or  to  state  the  same  fact  in  percentage  figures,  63 
per  cent,  of  the  farms  were  cultivated  by  farmers  who  did  not  own  them. 
And  the  most  striking  phase  of  this  situation  is  that  tenancy  is  on  the  in- 
crease not  only  in  South  Carolina,  but  in  the  nation  as  a  whole, 
especially  in  Southern  States.  In  Florence,  which  ranks  24th  in  farms 
operated  by  tenants,  64.3  per  cent,  of  the  farms  are  operated  by  ten- 
ants, and  as  long  as  this  conditions  exists  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
more  attention  will  be  given  to  money-crops  than  to  feed  crops?  For 
^we  can  see,  that  so  long  as  the  supply-merchant  and  the  time-credit  sys- 
tem exist,  under  which  tenants  do  business,  it  is  imperative  for  them  to 
grow  a  ready-money-crop,  such  as  cotton  or  tobacco.  The  situation  cre- 
ated by  such  a  year  as  the  present  one,  points  very  emphatically  to  the 
fact  that  even  the  tenant  farmer  must  learn  to  live  at  home  in  as  com- 
plete a  sense  as  is  advocated  for  the  owner-operator. 

In  Florence  the  annual  consumption  of  these  food  and  feed  crops 
amounts  to  nearly  three  and  one-half  million  dollars;  while  we  pro- 
duce only  one  and  one-quarter  million  dollars  worth  of  them.  Thus  we 
send  out  of  the  county  over  two  million  dollars,  which  we  might  have 
produced  at  home  and  thereby,  have  increased  our  wealth  by  just  that 
amount.  In  1919,  the  total  banking  resources  of  Florence  County  were 
$11,956,417.07,  so  we  see  by  sending  $2,000,000  out  of  the  county  every 
year,  in  5  years  we  would  have  covered  the  amount  of  the  banking  re- 
sources. It  is  clear  that  now  is  the  time  for  tenants  to  redouble  their 
efforts  to  produce  more  and  save  more  until  they  are  able  to  buy  farms 
of  their  own,  and  give  their  attention  to  food  and  feed  crops  and  not 
have  to  cultivate  exclusively  money-crops  desired  by  the  landlord. 

The  need  far  a  local  ready  cash  market  is  unquestionable.  There  is 
always  an  organized  world  market  for  cotton  and  tobacco,  and  hence 
the  farmer  does  not  need  to  seek  markets  for  them,  the  market  seeks 
him.  He  can  sell  them  for  ready  money  and  is  able  to  secure  credit  on 
them  before  they  are  even  planted.  But  in  the  food  and  feed  crops  the 
status  is  very  different;  it  is  necessary  for  the  farmer  to  haul  his  pro- 
duce to  town,  peddle  it,  and  lose  this  time  which  could  be  spent  more  prof- 
itably on  the  farm.  Thus  we  can  see  that  there  is  absolutely  no  encour- 
agement for  the  farmer  to  produce  goods  he  cannot  sell,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  well  organized  local,  ready-cash  market  is  imperative. 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 


45 


Doubling   the   Farm  Wealth 

We  realize  that  the  farmer  cannot  well  afford  to  stop  raising  cotton 
and  tobacco  altogether,  but  the  point  that  we  are  endeavoring  to  drive 
home  is  for  him  to  do  both — with  the  bread-and-meat  farming  system 
as  a  basis.  There  is  only  one  way  to  materially  increase  our  farm  wealth 
and  that  is  to  have  our  pantries,  smoke-houses  and  barns  filled  with 
home-raised  supplies,  no  matter  what  else  we  can  produce  on  the  farm. 
Let  us  leave  the  town  consumer  out  of  consideration;  is  there  any  ex- 
cuse why  the  farmer  cannot  produce  the  supplies  he  needs  to  feed  his 
own  family  and  farm  animals  from  j'car  to  year?  If  this  could  be  ac- 
complished the  farm  wealth  of  Florence  County  would  be  doubled  in 
the  next  few  years. 

The  problem  which  is  confronting  every  town  in  Florence  County, 
is  the  failure  of  nearby  farmers  to  supply  the  demand  for  food-stuffs 
at  high  prices  in  local  market. 

Need  For  Local  Markets 

Cotton  and  tobacco,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  products,  lend  them- 
selves readily  to  world-wide  markets.  They  can  be  shipped  long  dis- 
tances or  kept  for  long  periods  of  time  without  deteriorating  to  any 
great  extent.  Neither  can  be  utilized  by  the  producer  in  its  natural  state, 
and  the  demand  for  both  is  universal.  It  is  therefore  natural  to  expect 
that  they  are  the  ideal  money  crops  for  this  section  of  the  country. 

But  why  cannot  the  same  thing  be  said  with  reference  to  marketing 
our  excess  food  and  feed  stuffs?  Of  course,  as  a  whole,  there  are  no 
excess  supplies  of  food  stuffs  in  our  county,  with  the  exception  of  meat, 
but  in  individual  instances  one  farmer  may  raise  more  sweet  potatoes 
than  he  can  use,  another  more  irish  potatoes,  another  more  corn.  Under 
the  present  marketing  conditions  in  our  county  for  these  products  what 
incentive  is  there  for  the  one  to  raise  an  extra  supply  of  sweet  potatoes, 
the  other  irish  potatoes,  and  the  other  corn? 

The   Boll    Weevil    Problem 

If  only  the  farmers  of  the  county  could  foresee  the  losses  that  will 
run  into  appalling  figures  by  the  entrance  of  the  boll  weevil,  they 
would  not  hesitate  to  minimize  on  their  acreage  of  cotton  production 
and  maximize  in  their  food  and  feed  crops.  The  per  cent  of  losses,  as 
estimated  by  the  State  Entomologist  for  1920,  run  from  10  per  cent,  in 
Greenwood  to  70  per  cent,  in  Beaufort — the  southwestern  counties  have 
thus  far  suffered  most  from  the  pest. 

We  know  that  the  net  profit  from  cotton  is  arrived  at  by  substracting 
the  cost  of  production  from  the  selling  price,  and  also  we  know  that  the 
cost  of  production  would  be  greater  under  boll  weevil  conditions  and 
hence  a  smaller  marginal  return  will  be  realized. 


V^ 


V 


46  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

According  to  statements  from  the  best  cotton  authorities,  "for  the  past 
40  years  farmers  have  not  been  selling  their  cotton  at  the  price  it  costs  to 
produce  it  and  not  until  the  last  three  or  four  years  have  any  profits 
been  made." 

So  under  such  an  outlook  why  should  the  farmers  persist  in  raising 
a  ready-money  crop  when  a  fifty-fifty  plan  of  raising  money-crops  and 
food-crops  would  yield  them  a  greater  income  and  make  the  county  a 
self-feeding  one. 

Home   Raised   Food  and  the   Local   Market   Problem 

The  following  facts  are  derived  mainly  from  the  1910  census.  Rank 
indicates  the  number  of  counties  that  make  a  better  showing: 

13th — in  corn  production,   bushels 585,461 

Orangeburg  ranked  first  with  1,112,863  bushels.  Ten  year 
increase  in  corn  production  1900-1910,  was  203,491  bush- 
els.    The   increase   was  30.66  per   cent. 

16th — in  corn  production  per  person,  bushels 16.1 

Needed  per  person  31   bushels;   deficit  per  person,    14.9 
bushels ;   total  deficit  558,034  bushels.     State  average  per 
capita  production,  13.7  bushels. 

24th — in  wheat  production  per  person,  bushels 0.52 

Needed  4  bushels  per  person;  deficit  3.5  bushels;  total 
deficit  125,194  bushels. 

7th — in  oats  production  per  acre,  bushels 23.9 

The  oats  produced  amounted  to  6.3  pints  per  work  ani- 
mal per  day.  The  ten  year  increase  in  oats  production, 
1900-1910,  was  184  per  cent. 

17th — in  hay  and  forage  production,  tons 4,453 

Ten  year  increase  1900-1910,  was  TZ  per  cent;  rank 
20th.  The  hay  and  forage  production  amounted  to  4.4 
pounds  per  work  animal  per  day. 

32nd — in  per  cent  of  farm  buying  feed,  per  cent 18.3 

716  farms  bought  feed. 

30th — in  beef  production  per  person,  1910,  pounds 10 

State  average,   19.5  pounds. 

25th — in  poultry   production   per   per.son,    fowls 5.1 

Needed  13  per  person  per  year,  deficit  245,627  fowls. 

24th — in  butter  production  per  person,  pounds 3.2 

Needed  48  pounds  per  person  per  year;  deficit  of  44.8 
pounds    per    person. 

27th — in  livestock  production  per  person 30.90 

State  average  $29.70.  Per  capita  crop  production  was 
$118.62  in  Florence.  Total  farm  wealth  produced  was 
$149.52  per  inhabitant. 


1 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  47 

10th— in   Boy's   Corn   Club,    1920,   members 22 

There   is   no   reason   why   Florence   should    not    rank   first 

by  enrolling  75. 
19th — in  Boy's  Agricultural  Club  Work,  members 35 

Greenville   County   ranks    first   in   this   particular    with   an 

enrollment  of  290. 

Balance    Sheet    in    Food    and    Feed    Production 

Based    on    1910    Census. 

1 .  Food  and  Feed : 

Needed— 35,671    people   @  $84.00 $2,996,364 

5,644  work  animals  @  39.39 $222,317 

2,689  dairy  cattle  @   18.55 49,880 

3,135  other  cattle  @  $8.09 25,362 

699  sheep  @  $1.79 1,251 

21,300    .swine    &,    $6.69 $142,497 

441,307 

Total    food  and   feed  needed $3,437,671 

2.  Food  and  Feed  : 

Produced— Food  and  feed  crops $l,024,f94 

Dairy   products $  11,574 

Poultry    products 26,959 

Honey  and  wax 1,002 

Animals  sold  and   slaughtered    .  .    . .  202,292 

241,827 

Total    food  and    feed   produced $1,266,821 

Shortage  in  home  raised   food  and   feed 2,170,850 

Cotton  and  other   non-food   crops 3,206,580 

Distribution  of  Food  and  Feed  Shortage  :  Pounds 

(1)  Meat  needed  for  35,671  people  @  152  lbs 5,421,992 

Produced  667  calves  @  150  lbs 100,050 

5,824  cattle  @  350  lbs 2,038,400 

73,079  poultry  @  3   1-2  lbs 255,776 

21,300  swine  @  200  lbs 4,260,000 

Total   meat  produced 6,654,226 

Over   production 1,232,234 

Pounds 

(2)  Butter   needed   for  35,671   people  (<ij  48  lbs 1,712,208 

Produced 114,674 

Deficit 1,597,534 


^^. 


48  Fi/)RF.NCK  County:  Economic  and  Social 

(3)  Fowls    needed    for    35,671    people    ((V    12    fowls 428,05^ 

Produced 182,425 

Deficit 245,627 

Dozen 

(4)  Eggs  needed  for  35,671  people  ((H  17  1-2  doz 624,242 

Produced 252,130 

Deficit 372,112 

Bushels 

(5)  Corn  needed   for  35,671   people  (a'  31   bu 1,105,801 

Produced 547,767 

Deficit 558,034 

Bushels 

(6)  Wheat   needed    for  35,671    people   @  4  bu 142,684 

Produced 17,490 

Deficit 125,194 

Tons 

(7)  Hay   needed    for   5,643    work   animals   @    10   lbs.   per  day      10,298 
Produced 4,453 


Deficit 5.845 

Florence    County    Livestock    1910    Census 

I.  Animal    Units   on   Hand :  Animal    Units 

5592  mature  work  animals 5,592 

13   spring  colts    (1-4) 3 

2689  dairy  cows 2,689 

38   yearling   colts    (1-2)     19 

3135  other  cattle   (i-2) 1,567 

12560   mature   hogs    (1-5) 2512 

8740  spring  pigs    (1-10) 874 

541  mature  sheep   (1-7) 77 

158  lambs   (1-14) 11 

73079  poultry    (1-100) 7307 

Total    animal    units 20,651 

II.  Animal   Units  Needed— 388.480  A  divided  by  5 77,696 

Per  cent  of  animals  in  a  lightly  stocked  farm  area 27 

Per  cent  below  the  level 73 

Note — A    lightly   stocked    farm   area    means   one   animal    unit    for   every 
5  acre.s — a  hor.se,  a  cow,  2  colts,  5  hogs,  7  sheep  or   100  hens. 


VIII. 


EVIDENCES  OF  PROGRESS 


J.  p.  McNeill,  jr. 


W'liile  \vc  .should  hear  in  mind  that  there  exists  always  room  for  im- 
provement, still,  in  comparison  with  other  counties  of  the  State,  many 
of  greater  landed  area,  older  and  more  populous,  this  study  has  revealed 
many  things  of  which  the  folks  of  this  county  may  be  justly  proud. 

Wealth 

Between  the  years  1900  and  1910  our  total  farm  wealth  jumped  from 
less  than  three  million  dollars  to  over  eleven  million  dollars,  or  an  in- 
crease of  approximately  400  per  cent.  No  other  county  in  the  State 
can  boast  of  such  an  increase.  The  increase  for  the  State  as  a  whole 
for  the  same  period  was  155.3  per  cent.  Our  per  capita  country  wealth 
in  1910  was  $390.00,  in  which  respect  we  ranked  7th  among  the  counties 
of   the    State. 

Our  rank  is  eighth  in  total  taxable  property  amounting  to  $31,647,000 
in  1920,  a  fact  to  be  proud  of,  but  when  we  learn  that  between  1910 
and  1920  we  lead  the  counties  of  the  State  in  increase  in  total  taxable 
property  with  a  percentage  of  123.72  our  pride  is  boosted  considerably. 
According  to  these  figures  every  person  in  the  county  is  worth  on  the 
average  $627.     Only    14  counties   make  a   better   showing. 

With  her  5291  farms,  and  ranking  in  this  respect  8th  among  the 
other  counties,  she  ranks  11th  in  per  capita  crop  values  based  on  the 
eleven  leading  crops  with  $159.96.  Comparing  this  figure  with  the  per 
capita  country  wealth  of  $390  it  would  seem  that  in  less  than  three 
years  each  farmer  will  produce  more  than  he  has  saved  since  Columbus 
sailed  the  ocean  blue  in  1492.  We  can  produce,  but  we  cannot  save. 
Let   us   learn   this   difficult   lesson   and   keep   our   money   at   home. 

In  1920  we  had  3318  automobiles  in  our  county,  or,  one  to  every 
16.9  persons.  Greenville,  Anderson,  Richland,  Spartanburg,  Charles- 
ton   and    Orangeburg    are    the    only    counties    that    have    more. 

We  have  a  bank  in  our  county  for  every  2653  people,  in  which  re- 
spect we  rank  6th.  We  rank  5th  in  per  capita  bank  resources  with 
$230  and  5th  in  per  capita  bank  capital  with  $18.00;  7th  in  per  cap- 
ita bank  loans  and  discounts  with  $134.00,  and  12th  in  per  capita  bank 
account  .savings  with  $21.00. 

To  follow  up  statistics  with  reference  to  all  phases  of  wealth  in  Flor- 


50  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

ence  County  will  reveal  a  steady  increase  from  year  to  year,  some- 
times gradual,  sometimes  marked.  We  should  continue,  however,  to 
produce,   save  and  accumulate. 

Agriculture 

Upon  the  health,  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  farmers  of  our 
county,  depend  in  a  large  measure  the  health,  happiness  and  prosperity 
of  the  county  as  a  whole. 

Florence  county,  with  her  acreage  of  388,480,  composed  of  31  distinct 
types  of  soil,  with  42.2  per  cent,  of  her  farm  land  improved,  not  only 
holds  her  own,  but  is  on  intimate  terms  with  the  leaders  in  per  acre  pro- 
duction of  the  eleven  basic  crops.  Among  the  counties  of  the  State  only 
12  can  boast  of  a  greater  corn  production;  6  in  the  productioYi  of  oats; 
16  in  hay  and  forage;  12  in  cotton  production  as  a  whole  and  9  in  pro- 
duction per  acre.  In  1910  we  rai-sed  crops  valued  at  $8,063,000  or  a  per 
acre  value  of  $41.00.     In  this  respect  we  ranked  12th. 

Only  recently  have  our  people  realized  that  the  Norfolk,  Portsmouth. 
Coxville  and  Kalmia  series  of  soils  that  are  found  Lake  City  and  else- 
where in  the  county  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  raising  of  tobacco. 
Consequently,  in  the  last  few  years  more  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
production  of  this  crop  and  in  1920  we  had  the  distinction  of  tying  Wil- 
liamsburg County  for  first  place  in  its  production  with  a  grand  total  of 
nine  million  nine  hundred  thousand  pounds  raised.  Lake  City  is  the 
largest  tobacco  market  in  the   State. 

Pee  Dee  Experiment  Station 

The  Pee  Dee  Experiment  Station,  a  branch  of  the  State  Experiment 
Station,  with  headquarters  at  Clemson  College,  was  established  in  the 
Pee  Dee  section  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  agricultural  information 
applicable  to  that  part,  of  the  State.  It  is  located  one  and  one-half 
miles  northwest  of  Florence.  The  station  property  consists  of  about 
two  hundred  acres  and  embraces  the  following  soil  types :  Coxville 
Sandy  Loam,  Norfolk  Fine  Sandy  Loam,  and  Orangeburg  Fine  Sandy 
Loam,  which  are  the  most  prevalent  in  the  Pee  Dee  section.  The 
first  experiments  of  any  note  were  commenced  in  1914  and  since  that 
time  the  work  has  been  enlarged  until  at  the  present  time  practically 
all   the  station  land  is  devoted   to  experimental   work  of   some   nature. 

Fertilizer  Tests:  About  fifty  acres  are  developed  to  testing  fertilizers 
under  different  crops  and  in  different  combinations  and  amounts  under 
these  crops.  The  plots  are  usually  one-tenth  acre  in  size,  which  gives 
something  over  five  hundred  field  plots. 

Rotation  Studies :  In  connection  with  the  fertilizer  tests  a  great 
field  is  open  for  the  study  of  the  value  of  rotations.  The  following 
are  now  being  conducted:     Three-year  rotation;  corn  the  first  year,  fol- 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  51 

lowed  by  fall  oats  and  peas  sown  for  hay  the  second  year;  followed 
by  cotton  the  third  year.  In  the  two-year  rotation  corn,  in  which  peas 
or  other  legume  are  sown  at  the  last  cultivation,  is  planted  the  first 
year,  followed  by  cotton  the  second  year.  Running  through  all  these 
rotation  tests  is  a  comprehensive  system  of  fertilized  plots  and  to  check 
the  benefit  derived  from  the  rotation  there  is  a  corresponding  number 
of   plots  planted   continuously   to   the   above  crops. 

Variety  Tests  of  Field  Crops :  Inasmuch  as  variety  tests  are  always 
of  such  immediate  value  to  farmers,  the  leading  varieties  of  all  impor- 
tant field  crops  are  tested  each  year  as  follows :  Cotton,  twenty-five 
varieties ;  corn,  twenty  varieties ;  soy  beans,  forty-five ;  sweet  potatoes, 
fifty-six;  several  varieties  of  velvet  beans;  and  all  known  varieties 
of  peanuts. 

Tests  With  Tobacco :  Tobacco  seems  to  be  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
Pee  Dee  section  and  considerable  work  is  carried  on  at  this  station  rel- 
ative to  this  crop.  From  time  to  time  the  different  varieties  are  grown, 
chiefly  to  show  their  differences.  Complete  fertilizer  tests  as  well  as 
studies  to  determine  the  best  rotation  practices  are  conducted.  In 
addition  to  this  tests  are  conducted  with  different  poisons  to  combat 
the  worms. 

Hog  Feeding  Tests :  All  the  work  of  this  nature  done  so  far  has  been 
hogging  off  various  field  crops,  and  much  valuable  data  along  this 
line  have  been  obtained.  Practically  all  the  field  crops  suitable  for  hog 
grazing  have   been   tested. 

Cotton  Breeding:  Inasmuch  as  a  considerable  area  of  land  on  the 
station  farm  is  infested  with  the  cotton  wilt  disease  organisms,  special 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  breeding  and  selection  of  wilt-resistant 
cotton  seed.  These  seed  are  distributed  among  the  farmers  of  the  State 
in  such  manner  as  to  place  them  in  newly  infested  areas  each  year. 

Horticultural  Work :  A  small  area  is  devoted  to  horticultural  work. 
Different  varieties  of  peaches,  grapes  and  small  fruits  are  grown  as  a 
matter  of  demonstrating.  This  work  has  received  a  great  deal  of  at- 
tention and  has  been  the  means  of  inducing  numbers  of  farmers  in  the 
section  to  plant  on  their  own  farms  the  fruits  that  are  grown  here. 

The  interest  in  the  work  of  the  station  is  increasing  from  year  to 
year  as  the  farmers  of  the  section  become  better  acquainted  with  what 
is  being  done.  Recently  farmers  from  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Kansas 
and  Alabama  have  visited  the  station  in  large  numbers  to  study  the 
work  done  here. 

Boys'  Agricultural   Club   Work. 

The  Boys  Corn  Clubs  and  the  Girls  Canning  Clubs  are  organizations 
designed  for  a  purpose,  and  right  well  are  they  living  up  to  that  pur- 
pose. They  arouse  the  interest  of  the  children  in  better .  farming,  which 
will  in  turn  produce  better  farming  conditions,  and  should  receive  the 


52  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

support  of  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  rural  communities,  and 
there  are  39,438  of  these  rural  folk  in  the  county  out  of  a  total  popula- 
tion of   50,406. 

Schools 

With  the  exception  of  our  standing  in  attendance  the  whole  school 
situation  in  Florence  County  may  be  looked  upon  as  reflecting  credit 
upon  the  citizens  of  the  county.  This  is  said,  of  course,  in  view  of  the 
comparison  with  the  other  counties  of  the  State.  However,  in  no 
respect  have  we  attained  that  ideal  toward  which  we  are  ever  striving 
and  which  we  hope  some  day  to  attain. 

We  lead  the  State  in  our  per  capita  investment  in  school  property. 
The  school  property  in  Florence  County  is  estimated  to  be  worth 
$1,465,310,  while  Greenville,  with  her  very  much  greater  wealth  and  pop- 
ulation has  $2,568,374. 

With  only  16.39  per  cent  of  our  schools  one-teacher  schools,  we  rank 
third  among  the  other  counties,  Darlington  with  10.34  per  cent  and  Dillon 
with  10.71  per  cent,  outranking  us.  This  has  been  brought  about  by 
consolidating  the  many  small  schools  into  a  few  large,  well  built,  well 
"teachered"  schools.  Our  standing  is  made  more  striking  when  we 
learn  that  the  average  for  the  State  is  43.22  per  cent. 

For  every  child  enrolled  in  our  schools  in  1920  we  spent  $18.69.  Only 
three  counties  are  ahead  of  us  in  this  respect. 

Florence  City  Schools 

In  the  words  of  Profes.sor  George  Briggs,  Principal  of  the  Florence 
High   School  : 

"In  1906  the  town  of  Florence  had  two  school  buildings,  one  brick 
l)uilding  for  white  i)eople,  and  one  wooden  building  for  negro  pupils. 
In  the  school  system  at  that  time  there  were  fifteen  teachers  who  re- 
received  from  thirty-five  to  forty  dollars  per  month.  The  superintendent 
received  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars  per  month.  The  course 
of  stud}  offered  the  usual  work  in  English  and  Mathematics  and  cov- 
ered about  nine  grades.  There  was  no  science  and  no  foreign  language 
offered  except  Latin.  There  were  about  five  hundred  pupils  in  atten- 
dance. 

"Ill  tile  system  nf>\v  tltere  are  four  brick  buildings  for  white  pupils, 
worth  iialf  a  million  dollars,  and  one  brick  building  for  negroes  worth 
fifty  thousand  dollars.  There  are  now  employed  seventy  teachers  whose 
l)ay  ranf.;es  fnnn  one  luuidri'd  and  twenty-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  per  month.  The  superintendent's  salary  is  four  hundred  dol- 
lars per  month.  The  course  of  study  now  includes  the  usual  Etiglish 
branches,  Mathematics,  Latin,  French,  Spanish,  General  Science,  Phy- 
sics,  Chemistry',   Domestic   Art   and    Science,   and   covers   eleven   grades. 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  53 

Next  session  it  is  i)roI)ablc  that  the  twelfth  j^rade  will  be  added.     There 
are   in   attendance   now   more   than   three   thousand   pupils." 

Florence    Civic    Improvement    Society 

Realizing  the  need  of  an  organization  to  look  after  the  civic  improv- 
ment  of  a  fast  growing  cit}-.  the  men  and  women  of  Florence  called  a 
meeting  of  the  citizens  to  be  held  on  .September  16th,  1902  for  the  pur- 
pose of  developing  such  an  agency.  Accordingly,  on  that  day,  a  good 
number  of  the  leading  women  and  business  men  of  the  city,  together 
with  the  Mayor  and  members  of  the  City  Council,  met  and  after  a  free 
and  enthusiastic  discussion  of  the  matter  in  hand  decided  to  leave  its 
operation  in  the  hands  of  the  women,  the  men  promising  to  uphold  them 
and  assist  them  in  every  way  possible.  A  second  meeting  was  called 
for  October  8th,  at  which  time  an  election  of  officers  was  held,  result- 
ing in  the  choice  of  Mrs.  Theodore  Kuker.  for  President,  Mrs.  D.  M. 
McEachern.  Secretary  and  Mrs.  James  Evans  ,  Treasurer,  after  which 
the  following  committees  were  appointed:  Street  Committee;  Railroad 
Committee;  Finance  Committee,  and  one  to  take  in  hand  the  beautifying 
of  the  grounds  of  the  County  Court  House. 

This  organization  has  been  unceasing  and  untiring  in  its  effort  to  im- 
prove the  city  in  every  way  that  presented  itself.  The  length  of  this 
article  will  not  permit  comment  upon  every  phase  of  the  society's  ac- 
tivity, l)ut  a  cursory  review  of  their  achievements  will  show  clearly  that 
they  are  for  Florence,  first,  last  and  alwajfs,  and  as  public  servants 
should  be  backed  by  every  citizen  of  Florence  that  has  the  welfare  of  his 
city  at  heart. 

Here  are  some  of  the  things  that  it  has  accomplished  :  changed  the 
grounds  surrounding  the  County  Court  House  from  that  of  an  unkempt 
public  hitching  ground  to  that  of  a  well  kept  lawn  with  hedges  and  walks; 
beautified  the  two  small  plots  in  front  of  the  City  Hall;  establishment  of 
Industrial  Fair;  Baby  Show;  curb  vetegetable  market;  public  drinking 
fountains ;  and  public  play  grounds. 

The  Florence  Civic  Improvement  Society  is  a  live  thing  today  and  is 
laying  plans  for  bigger  things  in  the  future. 

County  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Florence  County  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  county  in  South 
Carolina  to  organize  a  rural  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  which  was  begun  April 
15,  1921.  The  primary  aim  and  purpose  of  this  work  is  the  dvelopment 
of  the  character,  health  and  spirituality  of  the  more  than  two  thou.sand 
white  boys  of  Association  age  in  our  county. 

Till'  work  is  non-equipment  in  that  it  invests  in  personality  rather 
than  in  buildings  and  paraphernalia.  To  carry  on  the  work  a  County 
Secretary  is  employed  who  gives  his  entire  time  and  promotes  the  work 


54  Florence;  County:  Economic  and  Social 

under  the  direction  of  a  Committee  of  leading  business  and  professional 
men  of  the  county,  who,  together  with  the  people  of  the  county  are 
giving  their  moral  and  financial  support  to  a  work  that  is  developing 
one  of  our  country's  greatest  assets — BOYS. 

The     Florence     Chamber    of     Commerce. 

The  Florence  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  organized  to  foster  the  agri- 
cultural, industrial,  commercial  and  civic  interests  of  Florence  and  her 
vicinity,  and  while  naturally  Florence  has  first  claim  upon  her  activities, 
still  the  Chamber  fully  recognizes  the  principle  that  by  helping  others 
we  help  ourselves.  This  may  be  considerd  briefly  the  aim  and  purpose 
of  the  organization. 

In  the  words  of  its  Secretary  :  "Our  program  includes  such  achieve- 
ments as  the  establishment  of  various  subsidary  organizations  in  num- 
erous lines.  Among  these  are  a  cash  potato  market  in  which  the  mem- 
bers practice  the  most  approved  methods  of  planting,  handling,  grading 
and  packing  on  a  cooperative  basis;  getting  built  in  Florence  more 
warehouse  facilities  for  handling  her  tobacco  and  cotton  crops;  the 
establishment  of  a  market  reporting  service,  both  direct  and  compara- 
tive, for  potatoes,  tobacco  and  cotton;  creation  of  a  traffic  bureau  in 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  which  is  in  a  position  to  gve  and  procure 
the  very  best  corrective  and  protective  measures  for  our  transportation 
resources  and  advantages;  successful  advertising  of  Florence  by  news- 
papers and  magazines  to  more  than  ten  million  people  during  the  past 
year  by  placing  in  such  publications  news  articles  of  interest  to  this 
section  and  South  Carolina  at  large;  we  also  aided  in  creating  a  coop- 
erative spirit  among  the  interests  of  Florence  County;  by  various  means 
interested  other  parts  of  the  State  and  of  the  county  in  Florence.  We 
have  made  our  resources  known  and  recognized  in  many  parts  of  the 
world,  including  South  Africa  and  India,  by  motion  pictures  which 
attracted  the  interest  of  foreign  governments  to  the  extent  that  they  pro- 
cured copies  for  display  in  their  colonies;  we  had  one  party  of  150  farm- 
ers from  Arkansas,  with  other  parties  from  Louisiana,  Texas  and  a 
number  of  other  states,  come  to  Florence  to  see  how  we  farm;  we  also 
established  and  maintained  very  cordial  relations  between  the  city 
at  large  and  our  transportation  companies  and  public  carriers.  In  many 
other  ways  we  have  given  a  widespread  service  to  the  people  of  Flor- 
ence and  the  surrounding  territory." 

Rotary  Club  of  Florence 

The  Rotary  Club  of  Florence  came  into  existence  during  the  early 
part  of  1920,  due  to  the  efforts  of  J.  Boon  Aiken,  who  became  its  first 
president.  Its  membership  is  limited  to  one  man  from  each  profession, 
but  in  .some  cases  a  second  active  member  may  come  in  from  the  same 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  55 

firm  or  business  from  which  the  active  membership  in  the  club  is  filled. 

The  Florence  Club  has  established  a  Rotary  Educational  Fund  whose 
object  is  to  aid  worthy  young  men  in  completing  their  education,  men 
who  would  not  otherwise  be  in  position  to  do  this.  A  deserving  young 
man  is  now  being  aided  by  this  fund,  and  its  operations  will  be  extended 
as  the  finances  of  the  club  will  permit.  The  Rotary  Club  does  not  un- 
dertake many  public  movements  as  a  club,  but  seeks  to  aid  those  agen- 
cies already  established  in  the  furtherance  of  their  work,  for  example, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Boy  Scouts,  Red  Cross — any 
force  that  has  for  its  object  the  betterment  of  those  conditions  under 
which  we  live.     It  takes  absolutely  no  part  in  politics. 

"He  profits  most  who  serves  best,"  is  the  slogan  of  Rotary,  the 
idea  of  the  organization  being  to  promote  a  feeling  of  fellowship  among 
the  members  and  to  give  them  a  new  realization  of  the  unselfishness  of 
service.  While  the  Florence  Club  has  only  recently  celebrated  its  first 
anniversary,  it  is  hoped  that  the  community  has  absorbed  through  its 
dealings  with  Rotarians   some  new   idea  of   the  nobility  of   service. 

The  idea  of  Rotary  had  its  inception  sixteen  years  ago  when  four 
Chicago  business  men  met  once  each  week  for  luncheon  together,  and 
the  weekly  luncheon  of  each  club  is  the  backbone  of  the  existence  of 
the  organization. 

Where  We  Lead 

There  are  forty-six  counties  in  South  Carolina,  and  it  is  considered 

conservative  to  call  Florence  County  a  leader  when  her  rank  is   15  or 
below  in  comparison  with  the  other  counties  of  the   State. 
Rank. 

1st— in  tobacco  production,  1920  (pounds) 9,900,000 

7th— in  oats  production  per  acre,    1910,    (bushels) 23.9 

13th— in  corn  production,   1910   (bushels) 585.461 

13th— in  cotton  production,  1920  (bales) 43,000 

10th — in  cotton  production  per  acre,  1920  (pounds) 278 

10th — in  value  of  non-food  crops  produced,  1910 3,206,580 

11th — in  per  capita  crop  values  of  eleven  leading  crops,   1920  159.96 

12th — in  value  of  corn  crops,  per  acre,  1920 $41.00 

4th— in  cattle  increase,' 1900-1910 5,291 

10th— in  total   farm  wealth,   1910 $11,401,794 

10th— in  Boy's  Corn  Club,  1920  (members) 35 

8th— in  population,  1920 50,406 

10th — in  population  per  square  mile,  1920 72.1 

9th — in  density  rural  population  per  square  mile,  1920   . .    . .  56.4 

2nd— in  birth  rate  per  1000  population,  1919 38.3 

6th— in  church  membership  per  cent  of  total  population  ten 
years  old  and  over  1916,  14,288  of  our  people  were  mem- 
bers of  no  church 85 


56  Florence  County:  ECconomic  and  Social 

1st — in  farm  wealth  increase   1900-1910  per  cent 400 

State  increase  155.3  per  cent. 

10th— in  total   farm  wealth,   1910 $11,401,794 

7th— in    per    capita    country    wealth.    1910 $390.00 

1st — in   increase  in  taxable  property.    1910-1920,   per  cent    .  .  123.72 

8th— in  total  taxable  property,  1920 $31,647,900 

15th— in   per   capita   wealth.    1920 $627.00 

13th — percentage    that   mortgaged    farms    are   of    total    farms 

owned  by  white  people.  1910 8.4 

Number  farms  owned  by  whites  3664;  number  mortgag- 
ed 354. 

12th — percentage  of  negro  farms  mortgaged.  1910 15.7 

7th — in  number  of  automobiles.  1920 3318 

One  auto  for  every   16.9  inhabitants. 

0th — in   number   inhabitants  per  bank,    1920 2653 

Number  banks   19;  population  50,406. 

5th — in  per  capita  bank   resources,    1919 $230.00 

5th — in  per  capita  bank  capital,   1919 18.00 

7th — in  per  capita  bank  loans  and  discounts.  1919 $134.00 

12th — in  per  capita  bank  account  savings.  1919 $21.00 

1st— in    per    capita    investment    in    school    property,    1920    .  .  $29.07 

2nd— in   total   value  of   school   property.    1920 $1,465,310.00 

3rd — in   percentage  of   white   schools   that   are    one    teacher 

schools.    1920 16.39 

4th— in  per  capita  expenditure  according  to  enrollment    (both 

races)    1920 18.69 

10th — in    per    capita    expenditure     according     to     enrollment 

(white)    1920 $34.04 

8th — in    per    capita    expenditure     according     to     enrollment 

(negro)    1920    .  . $3.61 

9th — in  average  salary  paid  white  teachers  (women)  1920.  $615.55 
5th — in  recepits  from  v^tate  ai)proi)riation  (both  races)  .  .  $38,325.63 
7th — in    average    number    white    pupils    to    school    according 

to   enrollment,    1920 101 

6th — in    average    number    white    i)ui)ils    to    school    according 

to  average  attendance,   1920 69 


\ 


IX 

OUR  PROBLEMS  AND  THEIR  SOLUTION 


.1.   p.  McNeill,  Jr. 


In  the  i)rcceding  chapter  we  have  enumerated  the  many  things  of  which 
we  can  well  afford  to  be  proud  in  Florence  County,  but  unfortunately 
there  are  many  conditions  prevailing  in  our  county  of  which  the  oppo- 
site is  true.  In  every  such  unfavorable  condition  we  come  face  to  face 
with  a  problem,  which  problem  will  have  to  be  solved  before  we  can  at- 
tain that  social  and  economic  position  to  which  we  aspire. 

No  doubt  many  a  citizen  will  be  shocked  to  learn  in  what  and  in 
how  many  respects  Florence  County  ranks  low  in  comparison  with  the 
other  counties  of  the  State.  It  is  the  primary  purpose  of  this  work 
to  call  these  defects  to  the  attention  of  our  people,  with  the  hope 
that  with  this  realization  will  come  determination  to  eradicate  these 
evils,  for  evils  they  are,  that  are  thwarting  our  development,  retarding 
our  progress,  and  hindering  our  people  from  obtaining  that  efficient, 
prosperous  and  wholesome  life  which  all   of  us  want. 

Illiteracy 

Every  State  in  the  American  Union,  with  the  exception  of  Louisiana, 
can  boast  of  a  fewer  number  of  illiterates,  persons  w'ho  cannot  read 
or  write  their  own  names,  than  can  South  Carolina.  United  States 
Census  figures  of  1910  show  that  25.7  per  cent  of  the  people  in  South 
Carolina   are   illiterates,   or.   about   one   in  every    four. 

We  find  practically  the  same  condition  existing  in  Floronce  County. 
In  1910  there  were  1020  white  people  over  ten  years  of  age  in  our 
county  who  could  neither  read  nor  write,  or  9.3  per  cent.,  while  5007 
negroes,  or  35.9  per  cent,  of  the  population,  were  in  the  same  condition 
of  utter  ignorance.  This  fact  is  appalling.  We  can  never  hope  to 
grow  and  flourish  while  this  situation  obtains  all  around  us.  Just  as 
surely  as  the  veil  of  ignorance  retards  progress  does  the  lifting  of  that 
veil    through    education    make    progress    possible. 

The  remedy  for  illiteracy  is,  of  course,  education.  The  majority  of 
our  illiterates  are  of  such  age  that  they  can  be  educated  in  the  public 
schools.  The  efficiency  of  school  depends  upon  the  attendance  of  the 
pupils.  We  cannot  expect  illiterate  parents  to  realize  the  importance 
of  an  education,  nor  can  w^e  expect  the  children  of  illiterate  parents 
to  attend  school   voluntarilv.     Yet  thev  must  be  educated  if  the   future 


58  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

is  to  find  them  an  educated  folk.  It  is  simply  up  to  the  educated  people 
in  our  country  to  see  that  our  children  attend  school  through  persuasion, 
legislation  or  any  other  way  that  is  feasible.  The  passage  of  the  com- 
pulsory education  law  was  the  greatest  constructive  step  toward  the 
eradication  of  illiteracy  in  South  Carolina.  Let  us  insist  upon  its  en- 
forcement. 

But  there  is  another  large  group  of  illiterates  in  Florence  County 
who  are  too  old  to  attend  school,  yet  it  is  our  duty  to  do  all  in  our 
power  to  open  the  doors  of  learning  to  them  for  two  reasons:  (1)  that 
their  remaining  years  might  be  years  of  greater  usefulness  to  them- 
selves and  to  society;  (2)  that  in  the  realization  of  the  value  of  an 
education  they  will  appreciate  the  absolute  importance  of  the  education 
of  their  children. 

The  question  arises,  how  can  persons  above  school  age  be  taught? 
How  approach  them  on  the  subject?  In  many  instances  they  know  that 
they  are  ignorant  but  are  sensitive  about  their  condition  and  rather 
resent  any  suggestion  that  they  owe  it  to  themselves  and  to  the  com- 
munity to  better  this  condition.  It  is  a  very  delicate  proposition  and 
must  be  handled  tactfully.  Their  salvation  along  this  line,  it  seems 
to  me,  lies  in  holding  meetings  of  an  educational  nature  in  our  com- 
munity school  houses  and  in  our  churches,  and  in  making  the  appeal  to 
them   strong  enough  to   insure  their   presence  at  these   meetings. 

The  work  of  the  Illiteracy  Commission  in  the  organization  of  adult 
schools,  schools  organized  for  the  sole  purpose  of  teaching  grown 
illiterates  to  read  and  write,  has  done  a  wonderful  work  in  the  State. 
When  handled  tactfully  the  pupils  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  school  with 
enthusiasm,  and  it  is  desired  that  every  county  in  the  State  establish 
these  adult  schools.  So  far,  Florence  County  has  no  organization  of 
this  kind.  Surely  we  cannot  afford  to  turn  the  cold  shoulder  to  any- 
thing that  looks  to  the  eradication  of  illiteracy  in  our  county.  Upon 
these  schools  being  organized  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  different  com- 
munities to  lend  their  support  by  encouraging  the  adult  pupils  and 
evidencing  a  just  pride  in  their  accomplishments. 

Better  Schools 

In  a  preceding  chapter  it  was  stated  that,  with  the  exception 
of  attendance,  the  whole  school  situation  in  Florence  County,  as  com- 
pared with  the  other  counties  of  the  state,  reflected  credit  upon  the 
county.  Suppose  we  led  every  county  in  South  Carolina  in  all  matters 
relating  to  schools,  could  we  afford  to  be  satisfied  with  our  educational 
achievements  when  there  are  over  six  thousand  people  above  the 
age  of  ten  years  living  within  the  limits  of  our  county  who  can 
neither  read  nor  write !  Does  the  fact  that  we  happen  to  lead  all 
other  counties  in  per  capita  investment  in  school  property  with  $29.07 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  59 

mean  that  $29.07  is  just  the  right  amount  of  money  for  each  person  in 
the  county  to  have  invested  in  school  property,  and  that  a  larger  amount 
would  be  superfluous?  Even  a  cursory  review  of  the  educational  condi- 
tion in  our  county   will   not  permit  such  an  attitude. 

It  just  takes  three  things  to  secure  an  ideal  school  system:  money, 
the  realization  by  the  people  of  the  vital  need  of  education,  and  time. 
We  have  the  money,  for  people  using  almost  a  million  and  a  half  dollars 
yearly  for  the  operation  of  their  automobiles  and  raising  yearly  crops 
valued  at  eight  million  dollars  can  certainly  spare  more  than  the  $150,- 
000  usually  expended  for  education  in  the  county  each  year.  Time 
is  an  important  element,  for  as  the  years  pass  close  study  of  the  prob- 
lem of  education  reveals  new  methods  of  teaching,  school  administra- 
tion, organization  and  equipment  which  should  be  substituted  for  the 
old  methods  hindering  our  progress.  Folks,  as  a  rule,  are  wary  of 
the  "high-browed"  school  teacher  who  tries  to  upset  things  in  general 
with  some  "new-fangled"  notions  about  the  art  of  teaching.  Just  be- 
cause the  pupils  of  today  are  not  taught  the  "blue  back"  spelling  book 
and  do  not  write  on  slates,  do  not  think  that  schools  have  gone  to 
rack  and  ruin.  On  the  contrary,  in  no  field  has  there  been  a  greater 
expenditure  of  time  and  effort,  sober  reflection  and  laborious  experi- 
mentation in  the  last  twenty  years  than  there  has  been  in  the  field  of 
education.  Capable  men  have  devoted  their  lives  to  the  improvement  of 
the  methods  of  teaching  your  children  and  these  methods  are  never 
adopted  until  they  have  proven  to  be  practical.  We  should  welcome  a 
change  when  we  know  that  in  the  end  ourselves  and  our  children  will  be 
benefited. 

The  compulsory  education  law,  even  if  the  means  for  enforcement 
were  provided,  requires  the  attendance  of  the  pupils  enrolled  for  only 
four  months  of  the  year.  Our  hope,  therefore,  lies  in  getting  the  pa- 
rents to  insist  upon  their  children  attending  school  during  the  whole 
school  year,  regardless  of  the  compulsory  education  law.  The  average 
child  does  not  realize  the  importance  of  an  education  and  will  not  there- 
fore attend  school  on  his  own  accord.  He  must  be  made  to  go.  We 
who  are  older  and  know  what  is  best,  should  never  lag  in  our  duty  to 
our  children.  Send  them  to  school  and  they  in  after  years  will  insist 
upon  their  children  attending  school.  Once  we  get  the  educational  ball 
rolling  all  will  be  well.     It  is  up  to  us  to  start  it. 

Idle  Lands 

Florence  County  ranks  among  the  larger  counties  of  the  state  with 
a  total  area  of  about  390,000  acres.  Of  this  amount  about  130,000 
acres,  or  one-third  of  the  total  area,  is  under  cultivation.  About  60,- 
000  acres  are  devoted  to  pasturage,  and  something  like  50,000  acres  are  in 
mature   timber   and  good   growing   timber,   leaving   a   balance   of   about 


60  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

150,000  acres  which  may  be  classed  as  idle  land.     It  is  with  this  latter 
class  of  land  wc  wish  primarily  to  deal. 

The  above  figures  afford  an  interesting  economic  study.  At  the  out- 
set we  find  that  not  quite  half  of  the  land  in  the  county  is  being 
put  to  use  for  profit,  the  total  area  in  cultivation,  pasturage  and  timber 
being  less  than  the  acreage  in  idle  or  cutover  land.  Florence  County 
anks  21st  among  the  counties  of  the  state  in  this  respect.  The  prob- 
lem before  us  is  how  should  this  idle  or  cutover  land  be  put  to  use 
so  that  the  owners,  and  the  county  at  large,  might  derive  a  fair  bene- 
fit  and  profit   therefrom. 

Some  few  calculations  are  necessary  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  fair  esti- 
mate of  the  situation.  The  idle,  pasturage  and  timber  lands,  together 
aggregate  260,000  acres.  Of  this  amount  we  estimate  100,000  acres 
in  swamps,  bays  and  low  flat  lands  not  suitable  for  cultivation  without 
expensive  drainage  systems,  which  would  be  impracticable  with  so  much 
other  land  ready  for  planting  upon  clearing  with  the  usual  amount  of 
ditching.  Deducting  further  the  area  in  timber  which  should,  of  course, 
be  allowed  to  stand  and  grow,  we  therefore  have  110,000  acres  of  avail- 
able idle  or  cutover  land  suitable  for  planting  with  the  ordinary  labor 
of  reducing  to  cultivation.  Of  this  acreage,  however,  25,000  acres 
should  be  set  aside  for  reforestation,  which  with  the  area  already  in 
timber,  would  make  a  total  timber  wooded  acreage  of  75,000  acres, 
in  addition,  of  course,  to  the  wooded  land  included  in  swamps,  bays 
and   low    flat   lands. 

The  above  figures  in  wooded  and  timber  lands  may  seem  excessive 
at  first  glance,  but  with  the  rapid  consumption  of  all  available  timber 
all  over  the  country,  and  the  slow  and  imperfect  process  of  reforesta- 
tion, it  will  not  be  many  years  when  it  will  be  necessary  for  each  par- 
ticular section  to  supply  its  own  timber  needs.  And  though  that  date 
be  fairly  remote  at  this  time,  it  is  coming  with  exacting  certainty, 
and  then  it  will  be  that  the  wisdom  of  providing  sufficient  local  timber 
will   be  effectively   seen. 

The  wooded  and  timber  lands,  however,  would  be  serving  a  twofold 
purpose,  that  of  growing  new  timber,  and  at  the  same  time  affording 
pasturage  for  three  times  as  many  cattle  as  are  now  pastured.  With 
the  arrival  of  the  boll  weevil  in  force  and  the  consequent  necessity  of 
engaging  in  other  pursuits  on  the  farm  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the 
total  available  acreage  for  pasturage  under  this  classification  will  be 
none  too  large.  Everj-  farm  should  have  a  small  acreage  in  woods 
and  pasturage. 

By  deduction  we  therefore  arrive  at  the  figure  of  85,000  acres  of 
idle  cutover  upland  suitable  for  cultivation  without  greater  than  the 
ordinary  expenses  of  clearing  and  ditching.  After  reserving  the  necs- 
sary    timber    and    pasturage    for    capacity    farming    population     of     the 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  61 

county  there  is  room  for  1,500  more  farm  families  of  five  persons 
each,  or  7,500  more  people  to  live  in  the  country,  allowing  50  acres  for 
each  farm.  In  1910  our  farms  averaged  33  acres  cultivated  for  each 
farm.  There  were  381  farms  containing  175  acres  or  more.  This 
would  make  room  for  many  more  farming  families  by  reason  of  better 
and  more  intensive  cultivation  of   the  land. 

Genera!  improvements  in  the  method  of  fanning  arc  needed.  By  ex- 
perience of  successful  farmers  it  is  known  that  small  horses  and 
mules  and  poor  stock  are  not  money  makers  on  the  farm.  The  one- 
horse  plow  should  be  supplanted  by  the  two  in  much  of  the  plowing, 
especially  in  breaking  the  soil  and  preparing  the  land  for  seed.  Im- 
proved farm  machinery  is  needed  to  be  more  generally  used.  Besides 
saving  labor  and  expense,  it  does  the  work  better  than  the  old  hand 
and  plow  method.  There  is  a  successful  improved  farm  implement  for 
almost  every  sort  of  work  on  the  farm  and  the  use  of  such  improved 
farm  machinery  should  be  adopted  by  every  farmer,  large  and  small. 
We  assume  that  farming  is  a  success  with  all  who  follow  it,  and  there- 
fore every  farmer  should  be  able  to  purchase  improved  machinery.  If 
he  is  not  he  is  not  farming  and  ought  to  get  at  something  else,  for  no 
occupation  is  worth  while  that  does  not  bring  a  fair  reward  for  one's 
labor  and  time.  And  by  reward  we  mean  a  living  and  a  reasonable 
accumulation  of   material   things    from   year  to   year. 

The  natural  increase  in  population  will,  of  course,  in  time  take  up 
all  the  available  plantable  land  in  the  county.  The  only  other  way 
to  increase  the  farming  population  would  be  to  bring  more  people  into 
the  county  from  outside  parts.  Importation  of  foreign  people  has 
been  tried  in  many  sections  with  more  failures  than  success.  We  hardly 
think  that  increasing  the  population  of  the  county  in  that  way  would 
be  of  any  marked  benefit,  and  on  the  contrary  it  might  settle  with 
us  an  undesirable  element.  Our  solution  is  to  induce  Americans  from 
less  fertile  sections  to  come  to  Florence  County  and  locate.  Our 
climate  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  unsurpassed  in  any  state  in  the 
Union,  and  any  man,  no  matter  from  what  state,  who  wants  to  farm 
for  a  living  can  do  no  better  than  to  locate  in  Florence  County.  The 
foundation  for  successful  farming,  good  land,  is  here,  and  all  that  is 
needed  is  determination  to  succeed,  energy  and  the  ordinary  labor  of 
farm   work. 

Tenancy 

This  subject  has  been  discussed  before  in  several  of  its  aspects.  As 
a  stepping  stone  to  farm  ownership  tenancy  cannot  be  looked  upon  as 
an  evil  tendency,  but  when  a  tenant  uses  rented  land  simply  to  earn  a 
living  year  in  and  year  out.  entertaining  no  hope  of  better  things, 
tenancy  is  an  evil.     The  solution  is,  \)i  course,    farm  ownership. 


62  Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social 

Livestock 

Florence  County  has  made  marked  progress  towards  better  live- 
stock and  especially  pure  bred  hogs.  The  county  ranked  seventh  among 
the  counties  in  South  Carolina  in  livestock  on  January  1,  1921.  This 
value  was  $2,565,400  compared  with  $1,067,418  in  1910.  Dairying 
has  increased  to  a  considerable  extent,  but  as  yet  there  are  no  pure 
bred  herds  in  the  county.  Each  dairyman  has  only  a  few  pure  breds 
in  his  herd,  but  the  tendency  is  favorable  towards  increasing  them.  In 
the  summer  of  1918,  the  county  agent  placed  about  seventy-five  grade 
Guernsey  heifers  and  five  registered  Guernsey  bulls  out  over  the 
county.  These  cattle  were  bought  from  the  best  herds  in  Wisconsin 
and  already  one  can  see  the  improvement  made  by  the  use  of  these 
bulls. 

Florence  County  was  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  to  establish 
co-operative  bull  associations,  there  being  one  in  practically  every  part 
of  the  county.  The  herds  of  dairy  cattle  that  predominate  are  Guern- 
seys and  Jerseys.  Beef  cattle  are  not  raised  to  any  extent  in  Florence 
County.  There  are  only  a  few  herds  of  beef  cattle  in  the  county. 
More  interest  has  been  taken  in  hogs  in  the  last  few  years  than  any 
other  phase  of  livestock.  There  have  been  many  herds  of  pure  bred 
hogs  established,  and  in  Lake  City  the  breeders  of  Poland-Chinas  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  organize  a  breeders'  association.  From  1910  to  1920 
hogs  increased  IZ  per  cent.,  which  shows  that  practicalily  all  of  the 
farmers  are  interested  in  hogs.  Through  the  untiring  efforts  of  the 
county  agent,  the  hog-cholera  fear  has  been  practically  overcome. 

Florence  County  produces  more  meat  than  she  consumes,  but  this  is  a 
splendid  policy  as  the  farmers  can  find  a  ready  sale  for  this  surplus 
meat,  or  they  may  pool  their  hogs  and  form  co-operative  shipments, 
under  which  conditions  the  highest  market  prices  are   secured. 

One  of  the  greatest  possibilities  of  livestock  is  the  raising  of  sheep. 
If  every  farmer  would  keep  a  few  sheep  the  production  of  mutton  along 
with  the  wool  would  greatly  add  to  the  assets  of  the  county. 

The  weakest  point  in  Florence  County  livestock  is  the  raising  of 
horses  and  mules.  Most  of  the  farmers  look  upon  the  raising  of  a  colt 
as  rather  expensive,  but  when  the  facts  are  figured,  a  colt  can  be  raised 
until  about  three  years  old  for  about  one  hundred  dollars,  besides  the 
farm  mare  doing  her  share  of  work.  If  every  farmer  would  solve  this 
problem  there  would  be  less  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollar  mules  ship- 
ped from  all  parts  of  the  country,  thereby  keeping  our  money  at  home. 

Although  Florence  County  is  lightly  stocked  with  livestock,  she  is 
going  to  be  one  of  the  foremost  in  the  state  if  the  progress  that  has 
characterized  the  past  decades  continues  for  the  next  ten  years. 

Good  Roads 

Good   roads   are  desirable.      They   pay.      With   these  axiomatic   state- 


Florence  County:  Economic  and  Social  63 

ments,  the  vast  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Florence  County  will  agree. 
But  unless  they  have  devoted  some  serious  thought  thereto,  they  prob- 
ably do  not  realize  just  how  desirable  good  roads  are,  nor  how  well, 
nor   in   what   varied    ways   they   pay. 

The  first  step,  therefore,  towards  the  solution  of  our  roads  prob- 
lem, must  be  a  process  of  education,  whereby  our  people  may  be  more 
fully  informed  and  more  thoroughly  convinced  as  to  the  desirability 
of  good  roads.  Their  attention  must  be  directed,  of  course,  to  the  in- 
calculable 'social  advantages  which  such  roads  bring.  The  drawing 
together  of  neighbors  and  the  development  of  community  life;  the 
elimination  of  the  isolated  farm  house;  greater  intercourse  between 
town  and  country,  are  some  of  the  results  which  come  with  good  roads. 
The  influence  of  such  factors  in  social  betterment  is  appreciated  by  all 
thoughtful   persons. 

Not  only,  however,  is  there  a  social  value  in  good  roads,  but  there 
are  distinct  economic  advantages.  A  few  figures  suffice  to  illustrate. 
The  Department  of  Agriculture  estimates  the  cost  ©f  hauling  a  bale 
of  cotton  to  market  to  be  eighty  cents.  On  this  basis,  i«  1919,  Flor- 
ence County  paid  out  $3^,039  to  carry  a  crop  of  42,549  bales  to  market. 
When  we  include  the  cost  of  hauling  the  cotton  seed,  it  raises  the 
total  cost  of  the  movement  of  our  cotton  crop  to  market  in  1919  to 
$97,876.20.  The  conservative  estimate  of  forty  per  cent,  has  been 
made,  as  to  reduction  in  such  costs  over  improved  roads.  This  would 
mean  an  annual  saving  of  $39,150.  What  is  said  of  cotton  may  be 
applied  to  nearly  all  kinds  of  rural  transportation.  The  saving  which 
would  be  effected  in  one  year  would  probably  pay  a  large  part  of  the 
cost  of  a  system  of  good  roads.  The  betterment  of  roads  means  the 
lessening  of  the  time  consumed  in  travelling  back  and  forth— it  means 
greater  accessibility  to  markets  and  business  places,  the  enhancement 
of  real  estate  values,  the  development  of  back  country,  all  of  which 
would  be  of  distinct  economic  value.  Space  does  not  permit  a  more 
complete  exposition  of  this  phase,  but  it  serves  to  indicate  the  wealth 
of  material  for  use  in  argument  and  propaganda  in  favor  of  good 
roads. 

When  this  educational  process  shall  have  reached  a  point  where  the 
people  are  thoroughly  aroused  to  the  desirability,  value  and  necessity 
of  improving  our  roads,  then  we  need  to  have  a  definite  system  of  roads 
to  propose,  and  a  sound  plan   for   financing  their   construction. 

As  to  the  first,  it  would  seem  that  at  the  outset,  provision  should 
be  made  for  a  complete  and  comprehensive  survey  of  our  road  system 
by  competent  engineers.  The  main  arteries  of  travel  should  be  deter- 
mined upon,  and  their  cours§,  (with  as  much  regard  to  directness  as  the 
territory  to  be  served  might  allow)  should  be  chartered.  Then,  leading 
from   these  main  lines,   lateral    roads   extending   into   every   community 


64  Hl;OR^CE/Coii|!J?T'Y.vJ2cONC)!MIC' AND  SQcrAt 

should  b^  proj«qted,;:i(Jia;,theS^)  ^ti^'Veys,  itiWould  seem  desirable  to.^e 
present  Itjcati.Gsnsriwbere^vef;  nefeiAvhoHjf:  undesirable  from  an  6Qgin:eeriiig 

standpoint.;-,;!     .Tia    <:U::  .i     iiO'iv     _:]■'.-  .::^\^    v/ .;•!     V:;:;       •.::.>     '   :■;!     ;:;i    ■-:\:\r. 

Having  fixed  the  roads,  the  kind. of  oonstruGtion  would  next  receive 
attention.  Andj  as :  to  •  that,.' experience  has  taught  that  the  main  roads, 
at  all  events, /should  be- permanent,  hard  surfaced  highways.  Nonp 
ftther  will,  stand  .the. traffic.  In  time^-, other  roads  might  be  adde;d'ito 
the  permanent  construction!  program.  btifclrcMti  the  beginning  it  seem? 
foolish  to  build  other  than  permanent  roads  for  our  main  highways. 
Sand  clay  will, not  stand  up,  and  the  costs  oi  its  maintenance  would 
soon  dissipate  the:  ;difference  in  C05t  between  that  variety  and  the  hard 

SUrfaCCv  .     ;    ;::.vv    v.;l   -.i    ^Irnv:       :':■:    r,    ,:.      i   ■■  ,        ,■    :.■,,.;, 

:;-Tiiese  things,  all  caJiefully  planned-r— the  last  and  most  vexatious  prob- 
lem remains — how  to  finance.  Float  bonds?  Of  course,  but  how.  to 
pay.theintergst-.atjdi^reate  a  sinking; fund  for  retirement,  as  well  as;  pro- 
vide maintenance:.'.:  ,-;i::  i'.  '  '  ,; 
.•Two  ideas  .haV:€  ^fmn  s.Ugge6^:  :  ;* 
-  ;l..    A  tax  ,0n;^mQl:cMr  Vehicles.,  ,i;-,   •  .s,  j  ;                                    ■-i.-jo  lo 

2.    An  abutting,  .property  tax,  based  on  a  zone  system.  >)  s::../; 

.'Both  of  these,  appear,  to  be  good  and  feasible.  Certainly  the  owneir 
of  at  nio,tor  vehicle  ;  can,  afford  to  pay  a.  substantial  tax  for  improved 
iToads.  Thc:  saving  in,  tires,  repair  bills,  and  wear  and  tear  to  machiin^ 
litould  offset,  many  times,  the  amount  to  be  paid.  .ii 

•  The  owner -of, abutting  property,  on  account  of  the  enhancement  in 
value  of  such  pro^perty,.  and  the  accruing  advantages,  could  afford  to  pay 
a  reasonable  taj4.  T^he  only  difficulty  here  is  to  provide  an  equitable 
system  of  division  into  zones,  and  a  fair  assessment  of  a  tax  thereupon. 
This  is  not  insuperable.  ,,,   :  i 

The  present  road  tax,  beiiig  general,  should  probably  be  retained  to 
provide  a  maintenance  fund,  thus  permitting  all  revenues  derived  from 
other  sources  to.  be  applied  directly  to  improvement, 
i  The  ideas  here  suggested  are  not  original.  They  merely  reflect 
the  concensus  of  opinion  among  those  who  have  devoted  thought  to 
th"e-solution  of  our  roads  problem.  Along  some  such  line  we  must  work, 
^nd  the  sooner  .the  mioy«ment  begins,  the  better  for  Florence  County. 

.Co -Operative  Marketing 

The  great  problem  with  the  farmer  today  is  to  market  his  product 
to  the  best  advantage,  that  is,  with  the  least  possible  lost  motion  or  ex- 
cessive overhead  expenses.  Many  millions  of  dollars  have  been  lo$t 
by  the  farming  class  of  people  as  a  result  of  uneconomic  and  unbus- 
inesslike marketing  methods.  Many  E,uropean  countries  have  recog- 
nized the  evil  practices  of  marketing,  and  have  instituted  co-operative 
marketing   for  most  of  their  products. 


FivORENGE   CoUNTV:   EjcONOMIG -AND  >SoCIAL  65 

'i  iGaJifttiTiia,  which  is  orie  of  the  most  progressive  states  in  the  Union, 
disc  rctognizes  the  advatitages  to  be  had  in  co-operative  marketing, 
ihd  during  last  year  approximately- two  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
ftjillions  Worth  of  products  were  sold  but  of  California  co-operatively. 

The  whole  country  has  become  permeated  with  a  spirit  of  co-operative 
rharketing.  It  is  rapidly  convincing  the  business  world  of  its  merits  and 
it  is  believed  by  many  that  it  is  not  a- wild  prophecy  to  state  that  within 
the  next  five  years  the  majority  of  the  products  of  this  country,  even 
the  large  staple  crops,  will  be  marketed  on  a  co-operative  basis,  as  ad- 
vocated by  the  Agricultural  Extension  Service  of  Cl-emson  College, 
which    has   given   much    study   to   this    subject. 

Not  only  is  this  proposition  of  interest  to  our  people  for  the  big  crops 
such  as  cotton  and  tobacco,  but  it  is  the  only  hope  by  which  we  can 
successfully  grow  and  market  the  smaller  crops  of  truck,  such  as  sweet 
potatoes,  Irish  potatoes,  beans,  peaches  and  such  perishable  crops. 
Progress  in  this  direction  ds  rapid  and  local  organizations  are  being 
built  up  all  through  the  lower  half  of  South  Carolina,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved that  owing  to  the  railroad  facilities  and  material  advantages 
as  a  center  that  Florence  will  be  a  routing  and  office  headquarters  for 
large  quantities  of  truck  which  will  be  grown  and  sold  co-operatively 
through  a  central  office,  as  a  result  of  diversification,  which  will  neces- 
sarily follow  the  ravages  of  the  boll  weevil  so  evident  throughout  this 
section. 

Taxation 

Our  present  method  of  taxation  is  inadequate.  There  must  be  some- 
thing Wrong  when  we  are  continually  voting  extra  levies  on  ourselves, 
continuing  to  increase  the  amount  we  have  to  pay,  and  yet  find  our 
government  "in  the  hole"  at  the  end  of  every  year.  Those  who  pay 
taxes  pay  enough.  There  is  many  a  man  in  Florence  County  whose 
property  is  never  listed  on  the  tax  books.  Herein  the  trouble  lies. 
The  present  method  of  taxation  makes  such  an  evasion  possible.  Real 
estate  bears  the  burden,  for  it  is  hard  to  prevent  its  being  placed  upon 
our  tax  books.  But  what  of  the  man  whose  property  consists  of  stocks 
and  bonds  and  other  intangible  forms  of  wealth  who  can  escape  tax- 
ation by  the  simple  method  of  forgetting  he  owns  it  when  the  time  for 
property  returns  rolls  around?  Surely  there  is  no  justice  in  having 
a  tax  system  which  makes  the  landowner  foot  the  bills  and  allows 
others,  and  a  vast  number  there  are,  to  enjoy  the  advantages  and  protec- 
tion of  our  government  free  of  charge !  Under  the  State  Constitution 
of  1895  we  cannot  pursue  any  other  methiad  of  taxation.  The  only 
way  to  get  relief  is  to  amend  the  Constitution,  providing  for  a  revised 
system  of  taxation  properly  adjusted. 

Let  the  revision  provide  for  a  state  income. tax.     Why  should  a  man 


66  Fix)RENCE  County:  Economic  and  Social 

who  works  for  a  salary  and  owns  no  tangible  property  be  excused? 
Why  should  a  man  whose  wealth  is  in  stocks  and  bonds  and  which 
pay  him  a  handsome  income  in  interest  be  excused?  Our  government 
must  be  financed — taxes  must  be  paid,  and  it  is  only  right  that  every 
citizen,  bear   his   share  of  the   burden. 

Let  the  new  system  provide  for  a  state  inheritance  tax.  Were  it  not 
for  the  protection  and  advantages  afforded  by  society,  and  society  is 
government,  no  man  could  accumulate  property.  Why  should  this 
wealth  so  accumulated  pass  to  his  heirs  upon  his  death  without  the 
government  receiving  its  share  for  its  part  in  the  creation  of  the 
wealth  ? 

Let  the  revision  provide  for  a  method  by  which  the  failure  to  cor- 
rectly return  property  will   become  impossible. 

There  are  still  other  means  of  raising  revenue  which  are  proving 
successful  in  other  states,  and  which,  of  course,  will  receive  due  con- 
sideration and  study  by  our  general  assembly  before  finally  devising  our 
own   tax   system. 

We  are  able  to  pay  taxes,  for  we  paid  to  the  Federal  Government 
last  year  over  twenty-five  million  dollars.  We  paid  to  the  State  about 
nine  million  dollars.  But  every  man  should  pay  his  proportionate 
share.  Under  our  present  system  many  pay  nothing.  These  do  not 
kick;  they  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  present  method.  But  are 
we,  who  do  pay,  willing  to  sit  tight  and  continue  as  we  are  now? 

Our  Problems 

Rank 

22nd — in    native    white    illiterates    10    years    old   and    over,    1910 

per  cent 9.3 

Native  white  illiterates  1018;  State  average  10.3  per  cent; 

U.  S.  average,  3  per  cent. 
26th — in  native  white  illiterate  voters;   per  cent 11.2 

430   in    number;    State    average    10.3;    U.    S.    average   4.2 

per  cent. 
25th — in  percentage   in  regular  attendance  in   our  schools    (bs-th 

races) 69.08 

Georgetown    first    with    84.89    per    cent;    Dillon    last    with 

61.51  per  cent. 
29th — in   average   number    white   pupils    to    teacher   according   to 

average  attendance 21 

Jasper  and  Williamsburg  tie  for  first  place  with  15 ;  Green- 
ville last  with  31. 

30th — in    farm   land   improved,   per   cent 42.2 

28th — in  average  improved  acres  per  farm,  1910 32.3 


Fu)RENCE  County:  Economic  and  Social  67 

24th — in  percentage  that   farms  owned  by  negroes  are  of  total 

farms  in  county,  1910 11 

21st — in  percentage  of  total  land  under  cultivation 33 

Land  under  cultivation,  128,269  acres;  idle  and  other  un- 
improved land  176,030  acres.  Reserving  50,000  acres  for 
wood  lots  and  allowing  75  acres  to  each  family,  there  is 
room  for  1060  new  farm  families  in  Florence  County. 

31st — in  food  and   feed  crops,  per  cent,  of  the  total  crop  value   24.00 
Beaufort  56  per  cent;   Marlboro   15  per  cent. 

18th— in  room   for  new  settlers,    1910 8400 

Horry  19,270;  Calhoun  1820. 

32nd — in  per  cent  of  farms  buying   feed 18.3 

716   farms  bought   feed. 

30th — in  beef  production  per  person,  1910,  pounds 10 

State  average   19.5. 

25th — in  poultry  production  per  person,  fowls 5.1 

Fowls  needed  13  per  person  per  year.  Deficit  245,627 
fowls. 

27th — in  livestock  production  per  person 30.90 

State  average  $29.70.  Per  capita  crop  production  was 
$118.62  in  Florence.  Total  farm  wealth  produced  was 
$149.52  per  inhabitant. 

24th — in  farms  operated  by  tenants,  1910,  per  cent 64.3 

26th — in   percentage   mortgaged    farms   are   of    total   number   of 

farms,   1910 8.9 


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